


Demon on Earth

by Samaelcholo



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Brutal Murder, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Violence, Demon Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Dysphoria, Eventual Relationships, Fear of Abandonment, Good Friend Cherri Bomb (Hazbin Hotel), Human Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Human Cherri Bomb, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Mentioned Valentino (Hazbin Hotel), Mentioned Vox (Hazbin Hotel), Modern Era, Panic Attacks, Separation Anxiety, Sharing a Bed, Trigger words
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:27:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samaelcholo/pseuds/Samaelcholo
Summary: Angel summons a demon to kill his abusive boss, but doesn’t know how to send him back to hell, so he’s stuck with him till he figures it outTheres murder and graphic depictions of violence
Relationships: Alastor/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 187





	1. Summon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel summons a demon, who turns out to be a little shit

Angel stood up from his crouched position on the floor, the dim room only Illuminated by the candles surrounding the pentagram on his floor. He wiped his hands on his pants and sighed nervously. The old book he dug out of an old church he’d been exploring with his friend Cherri sat on the floor beside him. He picked it up and flipped to the page he’d been reading. Most of it was in a weird language, and he couldn’t understand a thing, but he got the gist of it... he had to use real blood, and he didn’t have anything he could get that from, so he used his own, the cuts he made on his hands to get the blood out still leaking and stinging. He needed goat horns, but he didn’t know why he needed those, and he didn’t have any just lying around, so he used some old deer antlers his brother got from a hunting trip a few years back, before he moved out. He figured it’d work the same. He bent down and placed the antlers in the middle of the pentagram, grabbing a match and setting it on fire, placing it on the circle of blood. Angel stepped back and watched, bracing himself for the beastly demon he’d summoned...

For a few seconds, nothing happened, and Angel looked up, stepping forward with a disappointed frown. He reached for a candle by his foot when the pentagram lit up, turning a bright neon red lighting the room up, the candles went out and Angel yelped, dropping the book and tripping, falling back and shielding his eyes from the harsh light and heat emitting from the circle. After the light dimmed again he looked up, gasping at the tall skinny demon standing before him. 

“Y-your the demon?”

The red demon tilted his head, smile wide as he narrowed his eyes at the human on the floor. He didn’t say anything, so Angel rubbed his eyes, blinking a few times to make sure what he was seeing was real. 

The demon stood straight, very tall and... red. He had a smile on his face and large fluffy ears atop his head, with two tiny antlers to boot. Angel didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t _this_. 

“I didn’t think It’d work, t-to be honest I figured you’d be a lot more.. I dunno, _scary_?”

The demon just started him down, smile never fading as Angel stood. He rubbed his neck as the demon looked around his small apartment. He ran a hand through his blond hair, straightening his pink jacket 

“Can ya’ like.. talk, or what?”

Nothing. 

“Do ya have a name?” Angel didn’t know why he asked that, if he wasn’t sure the thing could talk. To his surprise the demon nodded and smirked. 

“My name is Alastor.”

He looked over at the deer like demon and grinned nervously. 

“Cool, cool.. I’m Angel...” Alastor didn’t respond to that, so he continued. “so- I’m just gunna get straight to it, you weren’t what I was expecting, but it’ll have to do. I summoned you to do me a favor.”

Alastor’s little laugh was staticky, running his hand through his hair and summoning his mic, leaning on it with a smile. 

“A favor? If I may, what does this _favor_ , entail?”

“I want you ta’ kill my boss.”

The demons eyes widened a bit, eyebrows shooting up. 

“So, can ya do it?”

“Of course I can! I’ll do it right away!”

Angel smiled, very surprised. 

“Wait, really? Jus’ like that?”

Alastor laughed, shaking his head and waving his hand in the humans face.

“Oh, absolutely not! I don’t do things for free, you know.” 

Angels shoulders slumped. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be this easy. 

“Okay, well what do ya want?”

“Your soul.”

“My s- hell _no_! What does that even mean?”

“It means I take your soul, and use it for personal gain, it makes me stronger, and sends you straight to hell when you die.”

“Why the hell would I give you my soul?” He yelled, stepping back and grabbing the book from the floor, flipping through the pages to find how to send the demon back. 

“Well, you’ll go to hell anyways..” Alastor said quietly, fiddling with his staff, throwing it from hand to hand with a large grin.

“What was that?” Angel asked, looking up from the book. 

“You summoned a demon, and had the desire to kill another human, I’d say you’d have plenty reason to go to hell, now.”

The demon had a point. It wasn’t just wanting to kill someone or summoning a demon, he’d done many things that would be considered sinful, not like he was getting off scot free.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead irritatedly before dropping the book with a groan.Well, If he got this far, no point in turning back now. 

“Okay..”

“Then it’s a deal!” Alastor said happily, being to step forward only to stop in place. 

“Ah..”

Angels face scrunched up in confusion. 

“What’s the matta?”

“I seem to not be able to step out of the pentagram, did you use human blood?”

“Uh, yeah?” 

The demon looked at Angel like he was stupid, a small smile on his face. 

“You need to clean it before we can continue.”

Angel groaned again, throwing his hands up angrily. “God, your so _needy_!”

He grabbed a small towel from the kitchen counter and soaked it under the sink, glancing at the demon who seemed pretty preoccupied with his microphone staff thingy. He walked back and got on his knees, wiping the semi-dry blood from the floor and stepping away.

“There you go your _highness_.”

Alastor stepped forward and made his staff disappear with a flick of his wrist, stretching his hand out, it being engulfed in green flames, the force making both their hair flare up. 

Angel grimaced and held his breath, taking the demons hand and shaking it once. He closed his eyes as he waited for the pain, for the heat, _something_ , but it never came. He opened his eyes. 

“Oh. That’s it?”

Alastor hummed and stepped out of the way, kicking over the candles with a grin and his hands behind his back. He bent over and picked up a knife from the floor, running us finger along the blade forcefully, blood running down his hand. 

“W-What are you doing?” Angel asked, his voice Wavering.

“When on the human plane, nothing can hurt a demon, and a demon can’t hurt any mortal, unless that demon and the human who summoned it makes a deal that entails Just that.”

He tuned around, the same smirk on his face. 

“I was just making sure.”

“O-Kay, weirdo. Are ya gunna kill em now?” 

“Of course. Who is this horrid boss you want me to kill?”

Angel frowned “His name is Valentino. He’s tall and wears a fur coat, works for the porn business.”

Alastor made a face and tuned around, looking around the room. 

“Alright, I’ll do that then. Just tell me where he is and I’ll do my thing!”

Angel gave the demon the address to where he knew Val would be right now. He didn’t really want to admit he’d fully planned this out, making sure Val would be in the right place for this to work out perfectly.

“Wonderful! I’ll be right back! Abyssinia!”

The demon snapped his fingers and disappeared instantly, making angel blink at the hastiness and his face scrunch up in confusion. 

“Wow. That was pretty easy.” He didn’t know how long the demon would take- _Alastor_ he corrected himself. He needed to start calling him by his name, not just ‘the demon’. That would probably make it a whole lot less weird. 

He stepped over the candles and flicked on the light switch, his living room flooding with light. He bent down and picked up the melted light sources and dumped them in the trash, not needing them anymore. He picked up the wet rag and threw it in the sink, turning on the kitchen light while he was there. The apartment was small, but cozy. He didn’t have much in it, just the couch and the tv mounted on the wall opposite of it, a small coffee table in between he’d pushed aside to make room for the pentagram, and a rug under that. His kitchen was small two, only holding the fridge and an oven he’d hardly used. The back door only held a small table and bench, completely fenced in with y’all wooden posts. Next the that on the counter was the microwave, something that he _did_ use on a regular basis, and another counter separating the kitchen from the living room, with two stools pushed up against it. Down the hall was his room, and the bathroom opposite of that door.

He sighed again, collapsing on the couch. He didn’t know if he’d come to regret his decision later, but it wasn’t like he’d be out of a job, he’d just go to work and not have to deal with his abusive boss everyday. Definitely _sounded_ nice, and it was something he’d been dreaming about for a long time. There was a thump and wet splat in the living room and Angel looked up from the couch, eyes wide and mouth open. He almost screamed, holding his hand to his mouth and bitting hard, bile rising up in his throat. Right in front of him the demon stood, and at his feet lay the Bloody body of his dead boss, nearly indistinguishable from a human corpse. It was more like a lump of flesh he’d just dropped to the floor like a sack of trash. 

“I-I, holy- _why!_ Why did you bring him here!” Angel shouted at the demon, shaking profusely, voice wavering. 

The demons ears twitched back a little at the volume but he smiled. 

“I killed him.”

“Uh- _yeah_! I fucking _see_ that!”

The deer had blood covering his entire body, his clothes completely drenched in the crimson substance. His mouth was also covered in blood, and it seemed like he had a small cut on his cheek, a smear of blood across it like he’d wiped it with his hand.

“ _Get it out._ ” Angel growled, pointing to the mess of flesh. 

“I’m afraid I can’t. You see, this fellow put up quite the fight! I used an awful lot of magic putting him down, if I magic him away now, I won’t have enough to clean my clothes!”

“Who cares! If someone sees this-“ he pointed to the body again, engulfed in rage. 

“I will be thrown in jail for fucking _murder_! And that’s _not_ what we agreed on!”

“Well actually-“

“Clean it!” He yelled loudly, not caring about the noise he made. Alastor stepped back from the mess and grinned coyly. 

“No.”

Angel sputtered, not expecting such a response.

“Dude! what the fuck!”

He raised his hand, pointer finger out ready to respond when they were interrupted by a knock at the door. 

Angels heart dropped. Not knowing what to do, and the demon not being any help, he stayed quite, hoping the person on the other side would leave.

They didn’t, and another round of knocks filled the quiet apartment, silent, besides the odd radio static filtering in and out. 

Angel turned to the demon and growled. 

“Get rid of it, now!” He whispered harshly. 

Alastor shrugged and snapped his fingers, the body and blood all disappearing in seconds. He sighed in relief and turned to the door. 

“Just a second!” He yelled, turning around and making a shooing motion with his hand. He opened the door just enough to see his landlord. He smiled nervously, throwing his arms out. 

“Well if it isn’t Maria Jones! What brings ya here, doll face?”

“Were having complaints about noise? Shouting? Everything alright?”

He nodded frantically, smiling wider, trying to seem convincing. 

“Can I see what your doing at such a late hour, Anthony?”

“O-oh yeah! Sure thing.” He swung the door open, hoping the demon had left. 

“What is that?” His landlord cried, flabbergasted. Alastor stood behind angels counter, leaning on the countertop with a smirk on his face and a red popsicle in his mouth. Angels mouth hung open as he searched for an explanation. What could he say? ‘Oh yeah I just summoned a demon to murder my boss and now he’s in my house eating my food at 3 am, no big deal.’

“That, is uh.. my brother. He’s uh, dressed up in a costume.. fake blood, he’s filming a movie about.....”

Alastor grinned, waving to the horrified lady. 

“Murdering... Deer.. demons...”

The lady beside him sighed and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“I-Alright, whatever, just keep it down, okay?” She said, still a bit shaken.

Angel nodded and closed the door, letting out the breath he’d been holding and turning to the demon with a furious look on his face. 

“What. _The fuck_.”

Alastor shrugged and threw the popsicle stick away, fixing his hair a bit. 

“I thought you were leaving.” Angel said, walking over to him. 

“Mm. I don’t know how.”

“Wait, what? You can’t be serious.”

Alastor looked at the human and grinned brightly. “No, I’m afraid I’m not.”

“B-but your a demon! Haven’t you done this before?”

He shook his head and walked from behind the counter, grabbing the old book angel had set on the coffee table and flipping through it. 

“Ah, this is in another language. I’m afraid I don’t speak Latin. Parts of this seem to be in Enochian, but I don’t speak that either.”

Angel scoffed, dropping his hands down 

“Great. So your useless.”

Alastor turned and raised his hand to his chest, feigning a hurt look, ears twitching.

“You summoned me, you should have researched how to send me back, I didn’t ask to be taken here to do your bidding.”

He finished with a sneer, dropping the book on the wooden table and walking to the door. 

“W-hey! What do you think your doing? You can’t leave, what if people see you?”

He pulled the demon back and pulled back when he realized he was still covered in blood. 

“Oh, god, can’t you change?”

“No. I’ll have to wait to regain my power, I don’t have an infinite amount, you wanted me to rid you of the body, and I told you I’d run out of magic if I did.”

“Fuck. It’s always something with you, huh? I’ve known you for an hour and I already hate you.”

Alastor walked over to the stood by the counter and sat, crossing his legs.

“Your getting blood everywhere.” Angel groaned. 

“When will you send me back?”

“I dunno man, uh, I’ll have to do some research.. stay here, I needa get something, don’t move a fuckin’ muscle, ya got it?”

Alastor nodded his head and smiled innocently, folding his hands in his lap. 

Angel groaned. This is gunna be one hell of a night. 


	2. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor thinks about the outside world, while angel goes out with Cherri for the day

Angel walked down the hall onto his bedroom, pulling out a couple of clothes the demon could wear. Alastor, not the demon. Might as well get used to treating him like a person if he would be staying here for a while. They were about the same size, the human being a bit taller, so Angel didn’t have to worry about clothes being too big or small. He didn’t have many fancy clothes, so he wasn’t sure how happy Alastor would be with a big red hoodie and black short shorts. 

Angel giggled and grabbed the clothes, walking out into the kitchen only to immediately wish he hadn’t, dropping the clothes to the floor, his mouth wide open. 

“What... what the hell are you doing?” Angel asked. 

Alastor stood by the counter, a bloody arm hanging limply in his hands, a bite taken out of it.

He smiled and shrugged, tilting his head. 

“Get rid of that!” Alastor looked down at the bloody limb and snapped his fingers, sending it away. 

“Were you eating it?” Angel asked disgusted, bending down to pick up the fallen clothing. 

“Yes.” 

“Do demons usually eat humans?” Angel wasn’t sure what kind of demon Alastor was, but now he was disgusted and a bit intrigued. 

“Some do.” Alastor answered simply, wiping his mouth. 

“Alright, whatever.. I brought you some clothes until you can change, so go take a shower and put these on.” He held up the clothes for the demon to see. 

“Oh, absolutely not.”

“Look dude, if your gunna be here, you need to be, not, covered in blood, got it?” 

“You are _not_ getting me to wear that.”

Angel dropped his hands irritatedly, glaring at the demon. 

“I can kick you out and let you get bombarded with humans, do you want that? Since you got no magic or whateva, you can’t kill em all, do you want me to kick ya out?”

Alastor scoffed, turning towards the door. 

“You can’t be _seriously_ considering that.”

The demon stood and grabbed the clothes, ears pinned back. Angel smirked, pointing to the bathroom down the hall. 

“Take your time.”

Alastor walked to the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Angel sighed and grabbed another rag, wiping the blood off the counter and tossing it into the sink. He sighed and sat, leaning on the countertop, his head in his arms. “This _sucks_.” He breathed out. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he grabbed it, turning it on to check the notification. 

from cherri:

[hey Angie, you down to hang sometime? I’m free all week ;p]

He sighed again, smiling at the message. 

[would if I could, but can’t, so I shan’t. Sorry babe, busy this week.]

A few seconds later his phone dinged again and he read the message. 

[damn, that’s okay. When you are free lemme know. Talk to you later :)]

Angel sent her a quick goodbye message and set the phone down, getting up and walking to the bathroom down the hall, putting his ear to the door. He heard the shower on, so he smiled and walked into his room, leaving the door open a bit just in case Alastor needed him. 

He groaned, falling onto the bed, his hands in his hair. 

He can’t believe he was roommates with a demon. A fucking _demon_. 

Though he wasn’t exactly happy about these turn of events, it wasn’t necessarily the end of the world. It wouldn’t hurt to get to know the guy a little, so he would make an effort to do that.  
He heard the bathroom door open and close so he sat up, walking out of his room and into the living room. 

“Demon?” He said, looking around. 

“Hi.”

Angel jumped when the demon tapped his shoulder, his clawed hands making him wince. 

“Christ- don’t do that!” He yelled, looking the demon over. Even though the demon was smiling, he looked very uncomfortable. The sweater was a bit baggy, but that was probably because he was so skinny, and he wasn’t wearing the shorts, but regular black pants. 

“Where’d you get those?” Angel asked. 

“I summoned them. Although it took a while, I’d say it was much more worth it than wearing the atrocity’s you handed me.“

Angel scoffed, looking the demon up and down once more. 

“Okay, your dramatic, got it. Duly noted.”

he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little disappointed. He kind of did want to see the demon in short shorts, he was pretty hot.. He blushed at the thought. Gosh, now he was sexualizing demons? What a new low..

“Are you okay?” Alastor asked, tilting his head at the human man. 

“O-oh yeah, come here, I wanna ask you some shit..”

Angel led the demon to the couch, and he was surprised when he listened, sitting down beside him, legs crossed and hands folded neatly in his lap. 

“Okay. First of all, what’s hell like?”

Alastor tilted his head, smile broadening. “What kinds of questions will these be?”

“Just answer it. If I’m goin’ there I might as well know what it’s like.”

Alastor laughed a bit, looking at his hands. “It’s a lot like earth, but there aren’t really any rules, most people just stay in there places while others outwardly sin. I think you’d like it.” He grinned. 

Angel scoffed, looking at the book on the coffee table. 

“So, did you like, die human and go to hell or were you born there?”

“I was human, yes.”

Angels eyes widened and he looked up. 

“Woah really? When did you die?”

His ears flattened a bit and he looked at his hands again, narrowing his eyes. 

“Around 1933, I believe.”

“Wow.. how did you die?”

Alastor stood abruptly, head down, his voice thickly covered with static.

“I don’t like these questions.”

“Oh, hey sorry, I guess that kinda stuff can be sensitive, I’m sorry.”

Angel reached for the demon and sighed when he pulled away almost violently, moving to sit at the counter. 

Angel stood and walked over to him, sitting beside him. He thought about the demon being a human that many years ago. 1933. He really did want to know more, like what it was like in that time, but he wouldn’t pry. He had other thoughts too, like if the demon was eating his boss when he walked into the kitchen from his room, did that mean he was a cannibal? He shivered at the thought. 

“Let’s talk about other things. Like, uh.. are these your ears? Do you hear outta these things?”

Angel flicked the demons fluffy ears and Alastor moved out of the way, sneering. 

“Please refrain from touching me.”

The ears twitched and angel smiled despite himself. “Yknow, for a demon, your pretty cute. You got a little deer thing goin’. Look, ya got fluffy ears and those cute little antlers, like Bambi, but red and insane.”

Alastor looked applalled, starting at Angel like he was crazy. 

“What?”

“Do _not_ call me cute.”

The human shrugged, turning away, arms on the counter. 

“Whateva drama queen.” 

  
Angel yawned and stretched, running his hands through his hair.

“Man, I’m beat. I’m goin ta bed. You can sleep on the couch.. wait, do demons need sleep?”

Alastor didn’t respond other than a nod, to busy fiddling with his claws. 

“..’Ight. Well, lemme get you some Blankets, huh?”

Angel stood, walking to his room to get blankets and Alastor stayed, staring out the window just above the kitchen stove. It was still dark outside, the dead of night, or early morning...

Alastor hadn’t been outside in years. He wondered where he was on earth. It would be wonderful if he was back in New Orleans, but that was highly unlikely. Even if he was, Angel was right, he couldn’t go outside without getting seen, and even if he could kill off a few hundred humans, there were probably thousands in just this one area, not even and overlord like him could kill hundreds of thousands of humans without needing to recover. He lifted his hand to his cheek where the man scratched him. He wasn’t expecting him to fight back, luckily it was a human, and humans were weak. 

_** Weak... ** _

“Here ya go, demon.” Angel said, walking into the room. He dumped the pile of blankets on the couch and sighed, turning to Alastor. 

“Well, get comfy. Tomorrow I’ll try and figure out a way to get rid of ya.”

Alastor didn’t move, still starting at his hands. 

“Demon?” Angel walked up to him, placing his hand on his shoulder softly. 

“I mean Alastor. Sorry I keep callin’ ya demon. Don’t wanna get attached if your leavin’ right?” He laughed, waiting for a response from the deer, who sat up and turned to the human.

“Yes, well you should probably go to sleep too now, right? Humans need a lot of sleep if I recall correctly.”

“Yeah.. alright, well g’night.” The human patted Alastor’s head and he moved away, not wanting the touch. 

“Goodnight.” He mumbled, looking out the window again. 

He wished he was back in hell. If he hadn’t been summoned by some stupid mushy human he wouldn’t be having these unwanted thoughts. 

——————————————————

The next morning Angel woke up groggily, rubbing his eyes, blinking to adjust to the natural light in his room. For a second he thought the whole demon thing was just a dream, until he received a message on his phone, it Buzzing from where it was sitting on his nightstand beside his bed. He grabbed it, looking it over. 

From Vox

[dont come into work today. Got reports of Valentino missing. Haven’t seen him since yesterday, I’ll send updates when you can come in for shooting.]

Angel groaned. 

“Oh, God.. All that really happened.” He looked at his phone again, noticing an older message from cherri. 

From cherri: 

[hey Heard you gotta day off, Val’s missing, you okay?]

He smiled and texted back. 

[yeah, kinda nice. You should come over]

Cherri sent back her confrontation and angel grinned, setting his phone down. He smelt something good filtering into his room, his eyebrows creased suspiciously.

“What _is_ that?” He stood up and walked out the door, having on only a pair of boxers and a baggy white shirt, his hair mused up from his awkward sleeping positions. 

“Demon?” He asked, walking into the kitchen, narrowing his eyes at all the food on the counter. 

“Oh! Good morning Angel! I made You breakfast!”

Angel looked confused, eyeing the pancakes and bacon on the counter suspiciously. 

“How did you get all this stuff? I didn’t have any of this.”

“I stole it.” Alastor said simply, turning the stove off, smile wide. 

“W-what? What do ya mean you stole it? How’d ya get out?”

The demon shifted from one side of the room to the other with his shadows, making Angels jaw drop. 

“I used my shadows.” 

“ _You can_ _do_ _that_?”

He nodded, leaning on the counter and pushing a plate in front of the human. 

“Uh-uh. I ain’t eatin that, you prolly poisoned it or somethin, what if that bacons my boss? I already figured out your a cannibal.”

Alastor looked a bit disappointed, looking down at the plate, but his smile Was still up, as bright as ever.

“Alright.” He said simply, standing up and turning to the sink, snapping, all of the dishes being washed in an instant. Angels eyebrows furrowed and he sighed, poking the Plate of pancakes with little interest. Now he felt like an asshole, the demon made him breakfast and he refused to eat it, and for what reason? and he was doing all this work, Angel couldn’t understand why. 

He cursed under his breath and grabbed the fork, getting a forkful of the fluffy pancakes and taking a bite. 

“Holy shit..” he took another bite, not even bothering chewing.

“These are so fucking _good_!” He finished his food quickly, sighing and placing the plate in the sink, rinsing it, and turning to the demon, who stood by the coffee table, reading the old Latin book. 

“Hey, thanks for breakfast, demon.” He said, looking the deer up and down. He had changed info different clothes, now wearing black trousers with a white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up. Alastor didn’t respond, his ear flicking as he turned the page. 

“I thought you didn’t know how ta read Latin.” Angel said, walking over to the deer. 

“I don’t. I’m just seeing if I can understand anything from these pictures.”

Angel hummed, grabbing the book from the demons hands and taking it away.

“What are you doing?” Al asked, looking confused. 

“Don’t worry bout this book right now, demon, we got better things to do.” He needed to hide Alastor before Cherri came, if she saw him he’d have a hard time explaining he summoned a demon to murder his boss. 

“Like what?” 

Angel didn’t answer, looking at the couch, seeing the blankets thrown across the couch haphazardly just as he’d left them last night. 

“Did you even sleep last night?” He asked, looking at the demon. He had bags under his eyes, but he wasn’t looking at angel, he was looking at the book. 

“Demons don’t sleep.” He lied, not looking up. 

“That’s a damnable lie and you know it. You said demons sleep last night, So Why haven’t you slept? Ain’t it important for you keeping your power up or whateva? And didja even eat?”

Now Alastor looked at him, his head tilted a bit. 

“No, I don’t think so”

“Well you should sleep anyways, and eat somethin’. it’d be betta if you were gone anyways cause my friends comin ova in a bit and I don’t think you two should meet so soon.”

“If their coming won’t they see me here anyway?” He asked, pointing the the couch. 

“You can sleep in my room, we won’t go in there, we’ll probably go out anyways, I gotta few days off, thanks to you.”

“Your leaving?” He questioned, looking confused, His eyes narrowing and head tilted to the side. Angel couldn’t help but think it was a little cute..

“Uh- yeah, just for a little bit, maybe a few hours, but you won’t notice it if your sleepin, so come on.” Angel grabbed the blankets from the couch and walked down the hall into his room, looking back when he noticed the deer not following him. 

“come on demon, let’s go.”

Alastor’s ears twitched in irritation, glaring at the human as he walked into his room. 

“Now uh, I don’t know how demons work, but I’m gunna go out on a limb and say you needa eat, and sleep like humans, so do you want me to pick ya up something while I’m out?” Angel asked, tossing the blankets on the bed and pulling the covers back for the demon, who looked disgusted at the bedroom. 

“..no, but a human would be nice.”

Angel stopped, turning around and staring at the smiling deer demon with a deadpan look. 

“I am _not_ bringing you someone to _murder_ and _eat_ in my apartment. Something else.”

“Any type of red meat will do then, and a lot of it.”

Angel nodded, grimacing. 

“Gotcha.” He turned around fully and pointed to the bed.  “Okay. Cherri will be here soon so go to sleep and I’ll be back before ya know it. Then you can eat, and I’ll figure out how to send ya back.”

“I’m not-“ there was a knock at the door and Angel grinned, walking past the red demon and patting him on the shoulder. 

“Great! Night night buddy! Don’t touch anything!”

And he left, closing the door and leaving the demon alone in his room. 

Alastor turned to the bed and scoffed. 

He would _not_ sleep. He didn’t need it, he was fine.. He _was_ exhausted, though. All that stuff he did really drained him... He groaned. **_No_**.

Angel opened the front door and was greeted with a big hug. 

“Aw Angie I missed ya! Hope your okay with the while Val thing goin’ on.”

He smiled, pulling away from the friendly hug. 

“I’m good, honestly kinda glad, dude was an asshole to me for so long.”

“Yeah. So what do ya wanna do?” Cherri walked in, knowing she was welcome. 

“Wanna watch a movie in your room? A day in?” She headed towards his room and Angel grabbed her arm, pulling her back. 

“Oh, nah. Let’s head out, huh? I got some stuff I needa get anyways, runnin’ low of food y’know?”

Cherri laughed and punched his shoulder playfully. 

“Food run, sounds fun Angie! I’m down!” He smiled, turning and walking out the door, cherri following. 

“Let’s go then!”

Alastor collapsed on the bed after much debate, ultimately giving in to the exhaustion. He sighed, face first into the mattress, eyes burning from strain. His stomach ached and he groaned, turning on his side in discomfort. 

God, he was _starving_. He could just go out and murder a human, but it was day, and he’d most likely get caught, it was hard to kill using shadows in broad daylight. Speaking of daylight..

He turned over and looked out the window of the room, right above the dresser on the farthest side. The sky was bright blue, something he wasn’t used to, clouds lining the sky like a painting, the sun high and burning. From where he was lying he could see and few buildings, only the taller ones, in the far off distance. He should’ve asked Angel where they were on earth, but he was to tired to think straight right now. He wanted to get up and look outside, just stare at the human nature around him. He desperately wanted to go outside, breathe the morning air and walk around, but he couldn’t. He was trapped, teased by the outdoors, that of which he could not reach. He sighed, looking down. With a bit of effort he pulled himself up, walking over to the dresser and sitting on the chair near it, resting his hands on the white painted dresser and his head on them, gazing outside tiredly. He missed hell a little bit, but this was nice, to at least get to _see_ the outside would, and the human wasn’t so bad either, he kind of liked him, he could handle a lot, Alastor was impressed.  


Slowly the demons eyes slipped shut as he thought about his life before, and the outdoors, listening to the soft natural radio hum coming from him and the sound of birds chirping outside. 

“So what have you been busy with Angie? How long are you free?”

“Ah, I dunno, my other boss said he’d text me when I could go back ta work, so for now I’m free, but I got some stuff at home I needa take care off..”

“Like what?” Cherri asked, sipping her soda. The two had stopped at a nearby fast food restaurant. Angel ate another fry, looking at the passing cars from the window.

“Okay, I’m gunna be completely honest here toots, can ya promise not to freak out?”

His friend frowned, looking confused.  “Sure.” She said. 

“I summoned a demon and I don’t know how to sent it back.”

Cherri coughed, hitting her chest and she cleared her throat. 

“You-your kidding, right?”

Angel shook his head, taking a sip of his drink, watching his friends expressions. 

“Seriously? Why would you do that?”

“You know how Val went missing last night?”

Cherri gasped, making Angel frown before her shock turned into a look of surprise. 

“You summoned a demon to kill your boss?” She whispered, leaning in. 

Angel nodded softly, looking around to make sure no one was listening. 

“More like _eat_ my boss. I don’t know how to get rid of ‘im, I’m still tryna figure that out.”

“What kinda demon is it? Big and Muscular? Horns and a spiked tail?”

Angel laughed, shaking his head at how odd his friend was.

“No, like the complete opposite. He wasn’t what I was expecting, but he got the job done.”

“What’s it like then?” She asked, completely interested now. Angel was happy knowing cherri wasn’t freaking out, he was so lucky to have such an awesome understanding friend. 

“His name is Alastor, his pretty tall, maybe an inch of two shorter than me, and he has red hair, fluffy deer ears and tiny little antlers.”

Cherri gasped with a joyous giggle, taking a sip of her soda and grabbing one of angels fries. He grinned at her enjoyment. 

“He sounds cute. Is he?”

He blushed, turning away. “He ain’t that bad looking for a demon. Like I said, he wasn’t what I was expecting. He made me breakfast this morning.”

“What? Your lying! It’s a demon! They don’t do that do they?”

He shrugged, sipping his drink and checking the time. They had been out about an hour, and Angel hoped the demon listened to him and slept. 

“I wanna meet him!” Cherri said, laughing and nudging her friend. 

“Yeah, you two would hit it off. You and my demon roommate. God, I feel like I’m in a shitty sitcom.” He laughed, looking at the giggling woman in front of him. 

“When can I?” 

“Maybe not today, I don’t know what he’s doing right now, hopefully not trashing my apartment, or bringing dead people into it.”

“Dead people?”

“Oh yeah. He’s a cannibal. Apparently, he was a human once, he lived in the 1930s I think, then he died and went to hell. He didn’t like talking about it very much, probably something traumatic or whatever.”

Cherri nodded and ate a fry, looking at her phone. 

“Didn’t you say you needed to go to the store? Should we now?”

“Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me, toots. Let’s go, I needa pick Bambi up some food so he don’t eat me in my sleep.” Cherri laughed and smiled, grabbing her trash and throwing it away in a nearby bin, Angel doing the same. 

“Demon! I’m home!” He yelled into the quiet apartment, bags in hand filled with pounds of a variety of red meats, Angel not knowing what the demon would like. 

“De- Alastor?” He corrected himself, looking around. Nothing seemed out Of place. Everything _looked_ normal. He set the bags on the counter and walked down the hall to his room, the door closed Partially just as he left it. He walked in, looking at the bed in panic when he noticed it was empty. He swung the door open and sighed in relief when he saw the demon sitting at his desk, looking out the window. 

“Oh, hey Alastor, why aren’t you in bed?” He didn’t get a response, so annoyedly he stepped into the room, poking the deers ears when, smiling at the twitch. 

“So soft...” angel mumbled, rubbing his fingers along the Fluffy appendages. He was surprised the demon hadn’t swatted him away by now, so he looked down and smiled wide. The demon was asleep. Oddly, his smile was still up, though it was small. Angel laughed quietly and ran his fingers through his hair, ogling at the softness. 

“Gosh, your so fluffy!” He whispered, both hands rubbing his ears and combing through his hair.  
The demon twitched and Angel lifted his hands, not wanting to make him angry. The deer didn’t move and Angel let his breath go, turning around before looking back. 

The demon must be pretty exhausted to fall asleep in that position. Must be uncomfortable...

He turned back to the red deer and pulled his chair back a little, making sure not to make him fall, he put his hands under his legs and back and lifted him up with ease. 

“Surprisingly light. Was not expecting that.”

Alastor’s head was leaning against his chest, his ears flicking around as he carried him to the bed, setting him down and tucking him in. 

“Wow. Can’t believe I just tucked in a demon like a fucking devil mom.” He snorted, looking down at the deer. 

“Your pretty cute. You don’t look like a killer.. definitely don’t look like a cannibal.”

The demon didn’t respond, much to his chagrin. He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed tiredly. 

“I know I need to send you back to hell. I don’t know if you got friends or family waitin’ down there for you to come back.. but Is it selfish to want to have you stay? It’s kinda nice having a roommate, even though I got Cherri, it gets kinda lonely here by myself.. you were not what I was expecting at all.” He laughed, looking up. 

“I don’t know if you like it here either, it’s been a bit hectic, but I kinda hope you do, maybe someday we’ll figure out a way to get you outside, I know you want to go out, I see you looking out the window all the time..  
I wish you’d tell me what your thinking, you always have this faraway look when your not talking my ear off. Must have a lot goin’ on in there, huh?” Angel put his hand to the deers forehead and smiled softly. 

“It’s weird thinking your real. A demon is lying in my bed right now.” He laughed, rubbing his eyes a bit, pulling away after he shifted. 

“I should put that food away.” He said, standing up and walking into the kitchen, emptying the bags contents out on the counter and putting them away in their respective places. 

Alastor shifted, turning on his side, a soft groan leaving his lips. He curled up a bit, not thinking to hard on how what felt like a second ago he was looking out the window and now he was in bed. He cracked his eyes open a bit and sighed, still tired.

He didn’t know how he got in bed, but he didn’t care, it was far more comfortable than the chair and desk. He closed his eyes again, wondering when Angel would be back before falling asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for typos


	3. Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor makes a mistake
> 
> TW for blood And graphic descriptions
> 
> Sorry this one took so long, it was a bit rushed so it’s short

Alastor opened his eyes, blinking, trying to recall what happened yesterday.  
He sat up and fixed his hair up, it feeling a bit messy. He sighed when it didn’t go down like he usually had it, it was like he’d ran his hands through it, but he didn’t remember doing that.. the door to the humans room was open to he stood, looking down the hall, listing for any kind of noise.. he could hear the picture show playing in the living room, so Alastor walked into the bathroom right in front of the bedroom door across the hall.  
He flicked on the light and his ears twitched in irritation. His hair was a mess! Sticking up in odd points, even the fur on his ears seemed a bit mused up.  
“How did that happen?” He mumbled to himself. He turned the sink on, water flowing from the faucet. He put his fingers under the water and ran it through his hair, patting it down to make himself a bit more presentable. His button up was a bit wrinkled, so he snapped his fingers and changed into his usual attire, red coat as pristine as ever.  
Happy with his look, he walked into the living room, hands behind his back.  
Angel looked up from his phone when he heard the radio feedback grow louder, the demon stood smiling at him.  
“Mornin’ baby.” He said with a smirk.  
“Sleep well?”  
Alastor grimaced, deciding not to bless the human with a response to that.  
“Have you been researching how to send me back?” He asked, poking an empty soda can off the counter with an amused grin.  
“I don’t really know how to start, I tried looking it up on the internet and nothing came up.”  
Alastor sighed, leaning on the counter.  
“What a shame.” He said, smile never fading.  
“Well, I was thinking, maybe we don’t have to send you back.. you could, y’know, stay here.”  
Alastor looked up, confusion coloring his face.  
“I beg your pardon?”  
Angel stood, walking over to the demon, slipping his phone in the pocket of his black skinny jeans.  
“I mean, you don’t have any people in hell that might be worried, do you? Are there people like that in hell?”  
The demon paused, seemingly thinking about the question thoughtfully before looking up and smiling.  
“No. But I don’t it’s a very wise decision to keep me here, this was a one time thing, you should really try to send me back.”  
Angel frowned “If your saying I can’t handle living with a demon your wrong. Your pretty easy to manage.”  
He scoffed, pushing away from the close proximity, looking away.  
“Maybe we can sneak you out a few times a week. I can take your places so you can see what earth is like now, doesn’t that sound nice?”  
It sounded wonderful. He would gladly live here on earth with this human than suffer in hell any longer.. but he could push away the thought, that the human would get bored, or would find it to dangerous, and would send him away, right when he got attached..  
“...I really think it’s quite stupid.” Alastor said looking away, not making eye contact.  
“Look. If it’s a stupid idea, let it be my stupid idea. I know for a fact that hell ain’t a great place, because it’s hell. I’m completely down with the idea of you staying with me, and to be honest, I kinda like havin you around.. I mean, you cook, and clean, your not messy, your like a roommate, but your a demon. It could be fun, and I think you might like stayin with me, just sayin’- cause I’m a pretty awesome guy.” He winked and rested his chin in his hand, waggling his eyebrows.  
Alastor was looking at angel like he grew a second head, his eyes were narrowed and his claws tapped on the on the marble countertop.  
“I don’t really want to know what you mean by ‘awesome’... but I suppose staying on earth couldn’t be that bad-“  
“Great! Because I kinda promised my bestie she could meet ya!”  
Angel has his arm around the demon and Alastor moved out of the way with his shadows, not liking the sudden contact.  
“Excuse me?”  
“She’s coming tomorrow, just wanted to run it by ya so you don’t go Miley Cyrus crazy and poke her eyes out with a plastic fork.” He explained shrugging, looking at the demon weird for avoid his side hug.  
“What’s wit you and touch, Bambi? Whenever I get close to ya you always run away.”  
Alastor sneered at the human from across the room, his arms crossed.  
“I’m not very fond of touch, so please refrain from ever doing..” he waved his hand at the human, searching for the word. “..That.”  
Angel made a clicking sound with his tongue, pointing at the deer with one hand, the other holding his phone, sending Cherri a message.  
“Noted.”

He set his phone down and looked at the demon, smile on his face.  
“Okay, so since your officially staying with me, you gotta listen to some ground rules, sound good?”  
The demon nodded, looking intrigued, a small smirk on his face as he sat on the couch. Angel held up one finger at the deer, a serious look on his face.  
“Okay, first of all, don’t bring dead bodies into my apartment, that should be obvious.” Angel held up a second finger “Second! Don’t go outside without telling me first, while I appreciate you getting food for me, you shouldn’t steal it, you may be a demon, but that doesn’t give you a free pass to do whatever you want.”  
He held on a third finger, crossing his legs.  
“And lastly, don’t touch my stuff, eventually we’ll get you some shit you might need, but your a demon, so you’ll have to tell me that stuff, I don’t know how your... autonomy works.. so is there things your need? Like, I dunno... tell me?”  
Alastor looked confused, tilting his head, a bemused smile on his face.  
“Do you have like... stuff down there?”  
“Down where?”  
Angel ran his hand through his hair, face heating up.  
“Do you have like... urges?.. you are a guy, right?” He looked like a male, but angel didn’t want to miss-gender his demon roommate on accident; he never did tell him if he was a girl or boy, Angel always called him a ‘he’ and the deer never corrected him.  
“Yes.”  
He sighed, sitting up a bit straighter.  
“Do you have the need to.... y’know..”  
Angel was a sex worker, a pornstar, he was well known in the adult film community, so talking about sex and masturbation didn’t bother him, or make him uncomfortable, this, though.. asking a demon it he jerked off, this made him uncomfortable. He just needed to know so he wouldn’t walk in on him! Not because he was just interested!  
“Do you masturbate?” Angel said finally, looked up at the deers face.  
Alastor looked revolted, his smile nearly falling just at the question. He made an effort not to gag at the prospect of doing such heinous acts, it was nauseating! How disgusting!  
“Absolutely not.” He said with a scoff, crossing his legs.  
Angel sighed again, happy he was done with that.  
“Okay, that’s cool, so you don’t need anything? Like, body wise?”  
Alastor shook his head and angel nodded, looking at his phone as it dinged.  
From Vox  
[filming tomorrow. Val still MIA so I’m in charge. Don’t be late or else]  
He growled, sighing irritatedly, dropping his phone on the counter with little care.  
“What’s wrong?” Alastor asked, tilting his head at the distraught human.  
“Nothin’ just my other boss being an asshole. Sorry demon, but I gotta go to work tomorrow, can’t stay with ya.”  
Alastor’s ears twitched, eyes narrowing. Something in his chest made it a bit harder to breath when the human said that. Alastor didn’t want to be left alone in this boring house with all these new rules he was expected to obey; which he would not, by the way.  
“What other boss?”  
“His names Vox, he’s like Val, only more of a cocky bastard than a abusive prick.”  
“What does he look like?”  
Angel looked at him weird, not understanding why he would want to know his looks, but answering anyways.  
“He has black hair and he’s always wearing this blue pinstriped suit and black gloves, why?”  
Alastor shrugged, looking at Angel with a small smile.  
“Just curious I suppose.”  
“Okay weirdo. I gotta go to the store real quick, I’ll probably be gone half an hour, you gunna be okay?”  
The demon grinned brightly, leaning forward a bit before answering.  
“Peachy.”  
“Great. I’ll be right back.”  
Angel grabbed his wallet from the end of countertop, walking out the door, phone in hand. Once the door was closed Alastor shot up, looking out the window by the front door with his shadows so Angel wouldn’t see him.  
Once he was out of sight Alastor teleported to the porn studio where Angel worked, knowing where it was already from when Angel told him to kill Valentino.  
He used his shadows to travel along the walls of the studio, searching for the man fitting the description Angel gave him.  
Black hair, blue suit... he searched, looking around the sinful building.  
“There you are...” he whispered darkly, moving forward, making sure no one was around to see the man sitting at a large desk, laptop open and phone in hand. He looked awfully distracted in the dimly lit room, only being illuminated by the electronics he was surrounded with. The room was small, and had bright purple walls, only containing a tall filing cabinet, a large Television on the wall and the desk this Vox was sitting behind. The desk held a small open case, filled with cash. This was the same room Alastor had killed Valentino. He figured this kill would be a whole lot easier that last time, now knowing what to expect. He slowly advanced, making sure to keep his static feedback to a minimum. The man looked up, looking around the room, shining his phone in the corners of the room, then Alastor stood out if his shadows, smile wide and head tilted, antlers elongating and branching out wildly, his eyes replaced by twisting radio dials, allowing the static to emit loudly in the room, hardly covering the mans petrified screams. 

When Alastor was done he was breathing heavily, blood soaking his body as he looked out the small window above the desk. It was getting dark, and Angel was probably home by now. He heard foot steps and he looked towards the door. Apparently he miscalculated the time severely. Wonderful.  
He rushed to grab what had fallen, the phone and laptop, tossing them on the desk, eyeing the money before grabbing a stack. Angel would appreciate that, right? He snapped, quickly taking the bloodied body back to the apartment, making sure to teleport to the bathroom, since he now knew where it was. Thankfully, it wasn’t occupied, so he dropped the body in the bathtub, grunting at the weight, not having enough power left to send him there with a flick of his wrist, and tossed the stack of cash to the floor. He locked the bathroom door and turned the faucet on, sitting on the floor and breathing frantically, trying to regain enough power to clean up the bloodbath he’d left.  
He pulled his legs up, hoping angel wouldn’t need the bathroom anytime soon. His chest felt tight and his eyes burned, he looked at the body in the tub, it’s arm hanging out of the side. That only made him panic more..  
He took in deep breaths and summoned his microphone, seeing if he had enough power to get cleaned up.  
“Not yet..” he mumbled, not liking how it came out as a static whine.  
He rested his arms on his knees, dropping his head on them with a shaky sigh. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest move, he probably should have thought it out more thoroughly before doing such an act impulsively, but at least Angel didn’t have to go to work anymore, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for typos


	4. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angels mad, but Alastor just wants to go outside.
> 
> Whoops. been a while, sorry bout that.

Angel opened the front door, letting cherri walk in first, locking it when they entered and set his bags on the counter. 

“Demon!” He yelled out, looking around the room. 

“You call him demon? I thought he had a name?”

“Oh, yeah, just habit at this point I guess, I told him you’d be here tomorrow, so he’s probably in my room, Come on.” He and Cherri walked down the hall, following the noise of water running in the bathroom. 

“Or he’s taking a shower?” Angel looked at cherri, who seemed a bit nervous, but had a smile on her face. He knocked twice, putting his ear against the door. 

“Alastor? You in there?”

On the other side of the door Alastor jumped, his head shooting up and his body going rigid. He looked to the door and took a deep breath, holding it as he snapped, trying to clean up.. nothing happened..

“Alastor? Are you okay?”

He couldn’t respond, not trusting his voice not to waver, his throat was too tight. He got to his knees and shoved the body into the tub all the way, struggling to stand, using the sink to help him. He felt nauseous, his head spinning. He might’ve overdone it a little bit, the man- Vox, he was bigger than Valentino, and he used a lot of power torturing him, prolonging his inevitable death for his own enjoyment, and while it was fun, he was severely regretting it now. 

The door handle jiggled and Alastor grabbed the body’s arm, pulling him out of the tub, his body falling to the floor with a bloody splat. He growled quietly, his nerves taking over his tingling body. Why was he even trying to pull it out now? Why was he even so nervous?

“What was that?” He heard on the other side of the door. A woman. Was Angel with his friend? That made this situation a whole lot worse. He wondered if he could eat the man before they got the door open? Probably not..

“Al! I’m coming in!” He heard the door handle jiggle again, the knob twisting, he could hear angel sticking something in between the locks to get it open. 

“No no no no...” the water was still running, his static was loud, making him wince every time it would peak. He pulled on the arm and snapped again, multiple times trying to get his magic to work. 

On the mortal plane his powers were weakened immensely, he found out, hell having different properties than earth. He growled, snapping again before the door clicked, and Angel swung it open. 

Alastor grimaced, and dropped the arm, Snapping his neck towards Angel and his friend, both starting at him in horror and shock. 

“D-did he...”

“Is that Vox?” Angel whispered, face scrunched up in disgust. 

“Angie.. he has a _dead body_ in your bathroom.” She said, stepping back. Ange turned to her and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away from the bloody scene. 

“Your not gunna call the cops, right?” 

Cherri put her hand on her foreheads and laughed hoarsely, shaking her head.

“Nah man! I thought you were _kidding_! Now I got proof!” She pinched his arm playful and wiped her nose with her arm, Angel frozen in place. 

“You.. your not freaking out.”

“Of course not! I’ve seen way worse than _that_!” Angels face scrunched up at that, wondering what horrid things his friend had seen before as he turned to the bloody bathroom. Alastor’s smile was the smallest he’d seen and his ears were pressed back, chest heaving. 

“Get it out.” He breathed out, pointing to the mess. 

“I tried..” he said in a hushed tone, standing up straight, his ears perking up a little bit. 

“Maybe I should come back tomorrow, when your bathrooms not flooded with blood?” 

Angel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck apologetically. “Yeah, that’s a good idea, thanks for being so cool about all this, toots.” 

“No prob! Hey, lemme know when you get to third base with Hannibal lector huh?”

Alastor tilted his head, his ears flopping to the side in his confusion. Angel blushed and pushed her out, her laughing and bidding him a good night.He waved, mumbling a goodnight and closing the door. 

He didn’t move for a few seconds, resting his head on the door. 

“ **Demon**!” He yelled, turning around. 

They had a _lot_ to discuss   
  


Alastor sat on the edge of the bathtub, it being a few hours since the whole murder incident, Angel had told him he’d be going for a few minutes and he’d better cleaned the mess by the time he got back. Reluctantly, Alastor agreed, cleaning the blood by hand, having gotten enough energy back to rid them of the body by the time the human returned, still quite furious. 

“I gave you three rules. _Three_ , and you broke all of them in under an hour! How is that even possible? I told you not to bring dead bodies here-” he pointed to the bathtub 

“-not to steal-“ he pointed to the money, a few bills covered in little specks of blood.

“And not to touch my shit.” He motioned to the messy bathroom, most of the things on the counter were knocked over and spilt, nothing in its right place. 

“And you broke all of those rules, seemingly on purpose!”

“It’s was not on purpose-“

“Oh so you kill my other boss and bring his dead body here, steal a shit ton of money from the studio and destroy my bathroom on accident.”

Alastor didn’t reply right away, looking down at the floor. 

“Well, now you do not have to worry about your horrible bosses, right? And I brought that money for you, since you seemed to need it.”

Angel sighed. He could understand the demon trying to help, he just didn’t like the way he was going about it. Yes, he did hate his bosses, and yes, he could use the money, but that didn’t mean he wanted Alastor to murder and steal for him just _because_. 

“I get you had good intentions, but I gave you those rules for a reason. Your lucky Cherri’s so cool about this stuff, or I would’ve kicked you out right then and there.”

Alastor winced but smiled anyway, clenching his fist tightly. He didn’t like being threatened by this squishy pathetic human, who did he think he was? He was lucky Alastor was so intrigued by him, or he would’ve ripped him to shreds the second he raised his voice at him.. well, maybe not that exactly, but he wouldn’t let himself be bossed around by some cocky effeminate meat sack. 

“Sincerest apologies, Angel, I won’t let it happened again.” He said, somewhat sarcastically. Angel scoffed, turning around and walking out of the bathroom, locking the door before slamming it shut. 

Alastor stood and used his shadows to slide under the door, heading straight into Angels room, walking over to the desk by the window and sitting on the chair. 

He looked out the window, and even though it was dark, he could make out the trees and houses nearby.  
It looked like there was a small fenced backyard connecting to the humans base floor apartment. How did he not see that before? He squinted, leaning forward so that the palms of his hands were on the desk, his face nearly touching the glass of the window. 

It was very small, only containing a tree and a small bench and table, closed off by a tall lining of White painted wooden fence posts. Alastor looked around the area, noting that every apartment had a small backyard like Angels, only the upper stories not having trees. Each one was fenced off so you couldn’t see in them. Alastor leaned closer, trying to get as close to outdoors as he could, his cheek pressed up against the glass as he gazed upon the dark shadows of nature, the moon being the only thing keeping the foliage dimly lit, leaves shaking in the cool night breeze. Al wished he could feel it, the wind through his hair, the grass, experience it all again, the feelings, the smells, and even though it was nice to see it all again, he _ached_ to go out and experience it once more.. of course, how did he deserve that?He supposed the thought was nice, and leaning on the glass, he could almost smell the cool air, hear the soft sounds, but it wasn’t enough. Imagining wasn’t enough, he wanted to _be_ there. 

The door squeaked as it was pushed fully open, alerting Alastor to the humans presence, but he didn’t move, still focused outside, watching the trees shake and leaves fall. His face was completely up against the window now, cheeks squished against the glass as his ears twitched at the sounds he heard every now and then, he practically sat on top of the desk at this point. 

Angel walked to his side, giving the deer an odd look, only for it to go unnoticed. 

“You uh- you good buddy?” 

“You have a backyard.” He mumbled. 

“Oh, yeah, it’s a lil small, didn’t think you’d care bout that.”

Alastor gasped as a squirrel ran up the tree, sitting on a branch, something in its mouth. 

“Oh! A _mouse_!” 

Angel snorted, leaning on the desk to see what the deer was talking about. 

“You mean a squirrel.” He corrected, a small smile playing on his lips. 

“Same difference.. I haven’t seen a _squirrel_ in years..” the demon said, never looking away from the small creature. 

Angel was a bit confused as to why the demon was so fascinated with nature and the outdoors, but didn’t question it, just enjoying the surprising amount of innocence at play before him. 

“What, they don’t got animals in hell?” 

Alastor made a displeased noise as the squirrel ran down the tree, off into a Bush beyond the fenced in area. 

“They do, but not like this.”

“When’s the last time you were outside?” Angel asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I don’t remember, it’s been quite a long time, I know.” 

He hummed in response, turning away and walking over to his bed. 

“Well I’m gunna go to sleep, you can keep sitting on my desk watching squirrels if ya want, but don’t bug me.”

Alastor nodded, not caring that angel couldn’t see. The human flicked off the light and Alastor twitched, looking back for a second. Angel has already climbed into bed, his back facing the deer. He didn’t like that, for some reason it made a burning feeling rise in his chest, but he ignored in and pulled his legs up on the desk, sitting fulling on top, his legs crossed as he pressed his cheek to the window again, ignoring the unpleasant feeling and focusing on the trees shifting side to side in the cool breeze of the midnight air. 

He could deal with this. He could sit and be this close- it made him a bit upset, but he could handle feeling a little disappointed if it meant being this close to freedom.

  
**_Oh how he missed being alive._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for typos


	5. Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, Under the right circumstances, Cherri finally meets Al, and angel gets an idea
> 
> Two updates in one day? Haven't done that since spark

Angel tossed his bowl in the sink, rinsing it in the cold tap water before walking over and sitting on the couch, pulling his phone out with a sigh. 

It was 8 o’clock, Angel had just woken up and the demon was still looking out the window. Every time a new creature caught his eye he’d announce it like it was the most important thing in the world. It was kind of cute, but got annoying after a while. 

He heard a shout from the other room, in a language that he couldn’t understand. It sounded familiar, like what he’d learnt in in class when he was a kid. French? How did the demon know French?

“mon ange un oiseau! deux oiseaux! incroyable!”

Angel winced at the volume. He was sure to wake up his neighbors if Al kept on like this. He walked into the room, stuffing his phone in his pocket and closing the pastel pink curtains closed, pulling the demon back roughly.

“Shut up, will you? It’s not a big deal! Their birds!” He pointed to the window, pulling the curtains back to show the chirping animals before pulling them shut once more. 

“Five foot rule-“

“To hell with your ‘five foot rule’!” He shouted, looking disapprovingly at the glaring deer, who showed no sign of remorse for his previous shouting. 

He reached for the curtains and Angel held them shut. 

“Get off.”

Alastor obeyed hesitantly, climbing off the desk, his glare never lessening. 

“You’ve been staring outside for so long, nothing new or exciting will happen! Do something else!” 

The deer scoffed, turning away from the human. 

“Like what? Sit and be silent? I’m not a pet, you don’t boss me around like you own me! I could easily dominate you, you know-“ even though angel was mad, he couldn’t help the joke he could’ve made right then out of his mind. He glared at the deer, nonetheless, not voicing his kinky remark.

”-your nothing but a squishy bag of meat and bones, you hold no power or authority compared to me, so don’t act like your greater, because your not.” Alastor growled, poking Angel in the ribs to prove his point. 

“That’s a bit dramatic don’t you think? If you could dominate me-“ he said the last two wordssarcastically, motioning air quotes with his fingers. 

“-Then why haven’t you already, huh? Your all bark and no bite, without your crazy voodoo demon magic you’d be just as weak as any human, you’d be nothin’ but a twink in a tailcoat, so keep talkin’ shorty, act all big and tough, but know you can’t fucking scare me, you can’t hurt me, y’know why? ima gay porn star in New York, that’s why, so just try and hurt me, I _dare_ you.” 

Alastor didn’t say anything more, avoiding the humans gaze with a sneer, not bothering to keep his smile up as Angel turned to leave the room, slamming the door shut loudly, making the deer wince, the burning in his chest replaced with a stinging feeling, stabbing his chest and throat, his eyes burning. He looked at the window, the room dark now that the curtains were closed. He sighed and sat on the side of the desk, pulling his knees up and grabbing a handful of his hair, pulling hard and growling in irritation. 

Damn this human. Damn him and his stupid human wit. Why did his words make him a feel so wobbly? So shaky? Why did it actually _hurt_ , what he was saying. That wasn’t right. He had come to the conclusion that he didn’t like it when the human would get angry with him, especially when he knew he was in the wrong. Angel was right, without his powers, he was as strong as a limp noodle. His stomach lurched and he groaned, very displeased with how his day was turning out. He wished he could rewind back, back to when he was sitting on the desk watching the sun rise, listening as the crickets quieting down to be replaced by the chirping of birds. 

Or even better, back to before he was summoned. He wished he had never be brought here, with such an stupid, unprepared, brave, wonderful, understanding and utterly idiotic human. 

He only grew more upset at his thoughts, his stomach feeling like it was doing summersaults in his guts, bile rising up his throat as he gagged and bolted to the bathroom, emptying his stomach into the toilet, heaving and gasping for air.  
He coughed and spit onto the bowl, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and flushing the toilet when he was finished. Angel opened the bathroom door and poked his head in, a look of worry on his face despite their argument mere moments ago. Alastor felt a pang in his heart at that, and he hated it. He wanted to wipe that stupid concerned look off his ugly, dumb, beautiful face. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, acting like they hadn’t just been shouting at each other a few minutes ago. Had it been minutes? Alastor had lost track of time, too caught up in his thoughts to notice. 

He cleared his throat and nodded, sitting back and leaning on the bathtub, the scent of the strong cleaner he’d used to ride the place of blood making his stomach twist, he groaned and curled up in himself, ears pinned back. 

Angel stepped forward and bent down to the demons level, leaning back quickly, eyes wide as the deer pushed him away and vomited into the bowl again. Angel could see from where he kneeled the demon was shaking, his grip of the toilet seat tight, like it was the only thing keeping him from crumbling right there. 

Angel awkwardly rubbed his back as he convulsed, pretending not to noticed to how the deer flinched at the light comforting touches. 

Alastor leant back and moaned, his head leaning on the wall. 

Angel reached over and flushed the toilet, closing the lid. 

“You done?”

Alastor nodded softly, face contorted into a look of discomfort. 

‘Can demons get sick?’ Angel thought to himself, resting his hand on the deers knee. 

It seemed a bit silly, but he was from hell, so he wouldn’t be surprised if such a place would have the capacity for demons to contract illnesses. 

When he looked over, Alastor seemed to have fallen asleep. He was still a little upset with the demon, but seeing him so helpless and uncomfortable made him a bit weak, so he lifted him up bridal style and carried him to his bed, covering him up and sitting on the edge of the mattress, his phone buzzing. He pulled it out and smiled at the text from cherri. 

[hey, I’ll be over in ten! Can’t wait to actually meet your demon roomie Angie!]

Angel thought that now would probably not be the best time for his friend to come over, but she was already on her way, and they had been texting each other since breakfast about her visit that day, so too late. Beside him Alastor groaned a bit, shifting and lifting himself up with one arm shakily. 

“Oh, didn’t think you’d be up so quickly. You didn’t sleep at all last night.”

The demon rubbed his eyes, clearing his throat a bit and getting off the bed, standing shakily. 

“I feel _awful_.”

“You look it too. Is it normal for demons to throw up?”

Alastor shrugged and lifted his arms up, running his hand through his hair, making sure he was smiling wide by the time he turned to the window. He didn’t care that he knew it looked fake, it _felt_ fake, it felt _wrong_ , but he walked over to the window and sat at the chair anyway, chin in his hand as he stared out the glass. 

Angel knew the demon desperately wanted to go outside, it was obvious. He seemed so fascinated with the outdoors, and even though Angel knew that Alastor had seen and been outside before; as he was previously human, he knew that it had been a very long time.. If Angel died and went to hell for nearly a hundred years he’d want to see the earth again too. It was kind of sad, watching the demon hover over the line of his true wants, watching from a distance something he could never have, only having his imagination and foggy remembrance of nature to fuel his impossible desires. 

Well, maybe not _too_ impossible...

A knock at the door made angel turn, leaving the room to open it. He smiled as he was greeted by his joyous bestie. 

“Hey Angie! I brought snacks! Some for me and you, and I got meat stuff for Bambi boy!” 

Angel laughed “I don’t think he’ll like you calling him Bambi, but come in!”

She showed him the bag of deer meat and he grimaced. “You said he was a cannibal, and I couldn’t bring him human, obviously so next best thing!”

“What a shame. He’ll be so disappointed.“ Angel said with a grin. 

“Yeah, I got some deer meat instead, venison, cause you said he was a deer.”

When she entered and set the bags on the table Angel gave her a hug. 

“Sorry about last time, suga tits. I would promise you it won’t happen again, but he’s really kind of a loose cannon.”

Cherri laughed, shaking her head and looking around the room. 

“Nah, I get it! Where is he anyway?”

“Oh, right. He’s kinda out of it actually, he’s not usually like this, he just really wants to go outside.”

The woman tilted her head, eyebrow shooting up. 

“It’s hard to explain. Let’s just go.”

The two stopped in the hallway when Angel paused, turning around and grabbing the “snacks” that Cherri had brought for the deer. 

“Just it case.” He handed the bag of venison to the girl and smiled. “Don’t want him bitting your hand off or something.”

The two laughed and walked into the room, cherri gasping at the sight. 

Alastor turned quickly when he heard someone that didn’t sound like Angel, ears twitching and a horrified look on his face when he heard the woman’s gasp. 

She came barreling towards the deer, making his ears pin back and him bolting to the other side of the room with his shadows. 

Cherri stopped in confusion and looked around. 

“What the-“

“Probably should have told you to not surprise him like that..” Angel giggled, looking at the demon curiously. 

“Who are you?” Alastor asked defensively, arms stiff at his sides.

“Just call me cherri, sorry for freaking you out, your just _wayyyyy_ hotter than I expected!” 

Alastor nearly frowned at that. He looked at Angel appalled, as if asking him why he’d let such a thing inside the apartment. 

Angel only shrugged and smiled wider. 

“Oh, I brought you some stuff! Here, heard you were a cannibal.” She held out the bag at an arms distance, not stepping forward, silently asking the demon to come closer. 

He did, cautiously. His ears turned back a bit as he uneasily made his way to the woman, stopping at her arms distance and snatching bag away from her. 

“Wow. Got some quick grabbers.” She said, giggling a little, turning to angel with a big grin. 

“Thank you.” Alastor said, stepping away. 

“Ooh! He’s got manners! Not something I’d expect from a demon! Real gentleman, this one, nothin’ like Val.”

Angels smile turned soft as he looked at the demon, who wasnt paying the humans any attention, far to focused on the window. 

“Cherri, come here for a sec.” Angel said lowly, motioning out of the room. 

Once the two were out and the floor was closed, Angel pulled his friend into the living room. 

“What’s up Angie?”

“I’ve got an idea, I think it’ll be fun, you down?”

She grinned, nodding and smiling wide. 

“Okay, so I’m thinkin’ we take Bambi out for a little _joy ride_ , huh?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for typos
> 
> mon ange un oiseau! deux oiseaux! incroyable- my angel a bird! two birds! unbelievable!


	6. Joyride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel and Cherri take Alastor to the woods. He runs

“What’s the plan, Angie?” 

“I’m gunna borrow a Johns car, easy enough. Then we’ll take Al ova to the forest on the outside of town, bring a couple guns, maybe a little dust if ya know what I mean.” He waggled his eyebrows and Cherri snickered. 

“Sounds like a blast! I’m in!”

“Great! Lemme just get Travis on the horn and you get the stuff, ‘ight?” Cherri have him the thumbs up and he grinned, pulling his phone out and dialing, raising it to his ear, the other line clicked as he answered the phone. Angel smiled.

  
  


Cherri and angel pulled up the the apartment, locking the car door before entering, leaving the bags and guns in the vehicle. 

“Hey Al! Gotta surprise for ya!” 

Unsurprisingly, the deer didn’t come forth, but he was expecting that. He walked down the hall and opened the door, finding the demon staring out the window again, face against the glass. 

“Okay buddy, come on.” 

Alastor didn’t turn to face the human, staring outside like a cat that had just seen a bird fly by. Angel grabbed a large sheet from his closet and a big hoodie and tossed the article of clothing at the deer, who flinched and jolted back, throwing the hoodie off in a short lived panic, eyes wide until he looked at the human laughing at him, muttering profanities, holding his stomach as he cackled. 

Al grimaced and turned back to the window. 

“Aw hey, I’m just kiddin’ around! Come on, I got a surprise for ya, I think you’ll like it a lot, but you gotta put that on so people don’t see you.”

Angel grabbed the fallen hoodie and walked behind the deer, who turned around quickly and glared at him. 

“We can go outside, let’s go!” Angel whispered, waving the jacket in his face. 

The deer sneered, turning away. 

“Your lying.”

The human shrugged, tossing the sheet and hoodie on the bed and dropping onto it with a dramatic sigh. 

“Alright then, I’ll just tell Cherri to take back the car, and the guns, and food we have all set up just for you to have fun..”

That got his attention. 

Cherri walked into the room, keys in hand. “What’s the hold up?” 

“I want to go!” Alastor yelled, practically pouncing on Angel with excitement, his ears perked and smile wide. The demon knew he was being ungentlemanly-Juvinile, even, but he didn’t care. He’d do anything to go outside even for a second. Angel groaned as the demon pushed on his stomach, making him sit up, struggling a bit. ‘ _Cute_..’ he thought, smiling at the deer. 

“Let’s go then.” He grabbed the balled up sheet and threw it to Cherri who caught it and grinned excitedly.

He pulled the hoodie up and if Alastor wasn’t smiling, he would have said this cannibalistic demon of mass destruction and murder was pouting. 

“Sorry. Gotta wear it bud. Just until we get there.”

Alastor didn’t move, seemingly debating the prospect before Angel sat up fully and slipped it over his head, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the room, ignoring the yelp of surprise, and how the garment got stuck on the demons antlers, making him struggle and squirm trying to correct it.

“Let’s go!” 

  
Angel practically tossed the demon in the car, the hoodie covering his head as he continued to struggle, trying to get it on correctly, gaining some strange looks from passerby’s. The human shot them a quick smile before shutting the door softly and climbing into the front passengers seat, Cherri getting in as well. She started the engine and Alastor shot up, looking around the car. He didn’t have a chance to see what it looked like on the outside, but from what he _could_ see he assumed it was black, and the interior looked a bit dated.. the steering wheel looked like it belong to a ford, but not the same kind of car he was accustomed to, while this car was old, he knew it wasn’t from the twenty’s or thirty’s.. forty’s maybe? He knew he shouldn’t be so focused on the car, as it pulled out of the driveway, shifting onto the street and rising smoothly. 

Alastor looked around the neighborhood, watching the trees and houses pass by as they drove. He was so happy! His smile was wide and genuine as the three of them traveled down the street, making turns and stops, giving the demon a whole new view on the modern world he never would have thought he’d get to see. He pressed his cheek against the glass as he watched the things that passed, he didn’t care that half the things he saw didn’t exist when he was alive, he was just so glad he could see it! He was _so close_ to being outside! It was amazing!

Angel turned and looked at the awestruck deer, smiling softly as he watched the joy on his face. Angel was glad he could make the demon so happy, because most of the time they were arguing, or the deer was just in a bad mood. He looked at Cherri who seemed just as excited, smile wide as she watch the demon from the rearview mirror. 

They were driving past the city, and Angel knew of a wide Forrest nearby that the deer would just _love_. There was animals, and trees, it was a great place to hunt, and in the since it was early fall, a lot more creatures were out and about, like deer and rabbits.

Angel liked to hunt, and he knew cherri did too, but something about how fascinated Alastor was with animals told him the demon was an avid hunter. He knew Alastor would go crazy over this. 

“Like what you see, smiles?” Angel said, turning to look at the deer. His head was turned away from the human, looking back at the city. 

“Where are we going?” He asked, turning to Angel. 

He smiled. “It’s a surprise.” 

Alastor didn’t respond to that, looking skeptical. He turned to look back at the slowly descending city as the car drove down the nearly empty road, the buildings and cars turning into trees and fields as the got closer to their destination.

Since there were fewer cars now, Angel thought it’d be okay to have the window open, just to see how the deer would react. He rolled down the window and laughed as the deer jolted, yelping and leaning back on the seat so far he was on the other side of the car, ears perked and eyes wide. 

“Oh shit my bad!” Angel laughed, reaching over and helping the startled demon sit up correctly. 

“Is he okay?” Cherri said, laughing with her friend. 

“What happened to the window!” Alastor asked, looking appalled. 

“Its electric. When did they make powered windows?” He said, turning and asking Cherri, who shrugged. 

“I dunno. This car is a 1940, so around then?”

That made sense. Alastor died around the early 1930s, stuff like powered windows didn’t exist then. 

“Sorry, just thought you’d want to look out the window, y’know.”

Alastor sat still, not moving from his spot against the other door. 

“You good?” Cherri asked, looking at the deer from the mirror. 

He said nothing, scooting over to the window and cautiously sticking his hand out, making a surprised sound as the wind blew through his fingers. Angel smiled warmly as Alastor sat with his hand out the window, an amazed look on his face.  
How long has it been since he’d felt wind like this? Smelt the air like this? Be so close to home? Yes, this wasn’t his _home_ home, but it was _earth_ , and he lived on it for years.. how long had it been?

He felt his throat tighten and his eyes burn. He loved this, being here, how did he deserve this? It was amazing, being separated from something he longed for every single day, only to be brought back to experience it all again years later? How did he deserve such a wonderful thing? 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Angel asked, gasping at the tears falling down the demons cheeks. 

“Al? Hey, come on.”

Alastor didn’t care that he was crying, they weren’t sad tears, they were _happy_ tears, the smile hadn’t left his face, but it was small and wobbly as he looked at his hand, almost seeing the red claws human again, it made him shake with tears and soft sobs. 

“What’s goin’ on?” Cherri asked Angel, turning to face him. “Should I pull over?”

“No, no, we’re almost there, let’s just keep driving.”

“But-“

Cherri was cut off when Angel unbuckled his seat belt and started climbing into the back seat, fumbling a bit as his tall frame inched into the small space. He sat before the demon and put his arm on his shoulder, careful not to anger him. The last thing he wanted was an angry demon in a small car with two humans and a trunk full of Loaded guns. 

“Are you okay? What’s wrong” 

Alastor turned to the human and grinned, tears falling down his face. 

“Thank you.” He said, voice cracking, the static that usually covered his voice nearly gone completely. 

“Why are you crying?” He asked softly, not moving his hand. 

“It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt this, being out here, and I really miss it. It’s nice to see everything again, even if it _is_ different from before.” Angel smiled at that, wrapping his arm around the demon. 

“I’m glad you like it, smiles.” 

Alastor didn’t push the arm off, instead he wiped his tears and leaned into it. It’s been a long time since he felt _this_ too. Comfort. Even though he knew he didn’t deserve what this human was giving him- and he couldn’t for the life of him understand _why_. What was this wonderful stupid mushy human gaining from giving him all of this? 

Angel squeezed his shoulder a bit and Alastor looked at his hands, the red tipped claws he was so used to seeing covered inblood feeling wrong now. Yes, some part of him missed hell, but that’s because he’d been there so long. He wondered what year it was, he wondered _where_ he was, how far away from home he was. He wondered if his family’s house was still there, if the radio station was still there, he wondered a lot, and he knew he wouldn’t get any answers to his questions, but he still found himself thinking about it far to often. He didn’t like thinking about his past, his life before, so when he got to hell he just indulged in all of the things he did when he was alive, murder, broadcast, cannibalism, it was some kind of familiarity he could keep, even in death. He gave up when he was alive, and he gave up when he was in hell, too, but he wouldn’t let that show, he would continue to threaten those he dared cross him, and if they got cocky he’d kill them the second he got. He could have killed this human and his friend when he first threatened him, but he didn’t, and he couldn’t figure out why. He didn’t understand why he felt so attached to this human, how he didn’t want this human to be hurt, by anyone, including himself. He never felt that way about anyone, not in life, nor death. It was interesting, to say the least, and the odd fluffy feeling he got when the human would do something nice for him was something he still wasn’t used to. He pinned it on being because no one had ever done anything nice for him, it was foreign to him, so maybe that’s why he didn’t understand why Angel was so nice to him, why he’d given him so many chances.

That seemed right. He’d stick with that.  


the car pulled to a stop on the side of the road, a lush thick forest stretched out along it.

“Okay, we’re here, let’s go boys!” Cherri said, opening the car door and popping the trunk. 

“Okay, put this hood on until we get further in.” Angel said in a hushed tone, pulling the hood to the sweater up over the deers ears, only for them to poke up awkwardly. 

“Uh, let’s see, can you bend your ear things back?” Alastor paused, giving the human a weird look before complying, his ears folding down. 

“Great. Let’s go.”

Angel got out of the car and grabbed the balled up sheet from the open trunk and stuck it in a black backpack, slinging it on his arm. Cherri grabbed the other bag and pulled the guns out, two pistols, fully loaded. She handed one to Angel and smirked, closing the trunk before looking around a bit. 

“Hey uh... Where’s Alastor?” 

Angel turned to the car, the door wide open and the hoodie thrown haphazardly one the floor. His heart dropped. 

“ _Oh... oh no_...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for typos


	7. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cherri and Angel try to search for their demon, but get A bit caught up.
> 
> TW for attempted kidnapping and graphic depictions of murder  
> aka. Alastor murders a bitch

“Alastor! Al! Hey, where are you!”

The pair walked around, following the narrow dirt path going into the forest, checking high and low for their demon friend. 

“God, somehow I knew this would happen.” 

“Now I know what you mean about it being a loose cannon.”

“Him” angel corrected defensively. “He’s not an _it_.” 

Cherri put her hands up and smirked. 

“My bad. Defensive, why?”

Angel sighed irritatedly, giving Cherri an apologetic look. 

“Sorry, it’s just, I’m worried someone will find him, then what’ll we do? What if he’s lost, or someone mistakes him for an actual deer and shoots him-“

“Angie. Chill. It’ll be okay, we’ll find him! He’s a bright red beem pole, how can we miss ‘im?” She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled encouragingly, nodding towards the foliage. 

“Let’s keep looking.” 

“Yeah.”  


There was a rustle of leaves behind them and they turned, looking around. 

“What was that?” Cherri asked, suddenly feeling nervous. 

“I don’t know, let’s just keep looking.. stay close..” Angel pulled out his gun and cocked it, ready to defend him and his bestie. Cherri did the same, turning around slowly and continuing on the path, Angel following. 

“You hear that?” Angel whispered, turning around to face Cherri when-

“Ahhhh!-“ her gun was pulled out of her hands and thrown to the floor, Angel gasped and raised his pistol at the man who had her in an iron grip, hand over her mouth. The man was muscly, arms thick and hands even bigger. He had messy grey hair and a gun pointed at Angel. 

“Put the gun down, kid.” He grumbled in a hushed tone, voice rough. “On the floor or I shoot her pretty little head.” He held his hands on Cherri’s mouth and she squirmed, trying to get loose. 

“Put it down now!” The man yelled, making angel flinch and drop the gun hastily, kicking it away. 

“Good.. now I’m taking your friend, and if you tell a single fucking soul I’ll take you, too. Got it?” The man said, backing up, gun still pointing at him. 

Cherri tried screaming, kicking the mans knees, her eyes wide and filled with fear. 

“No! Cherri!” Angel yelled, lunging for the man, trying to pry his arms off the woman. 

The man growled and kicked Angel, knocking him down, finger on the trigger. 

“Move and I shoot.” He grumbled out roughly, tightening his grip on the woman in his arms. She cried, wriggling again, only to get elbowed in the stomach. 

“Cherri..” angel said softly, eyes filled with tears. He made one last attempt to get his friend back, kicking the man in the knees making him curse and back up, glaring at the blonde. 

“You asked for it..”

“ _So did you_!”

A cheery voice sang out, laced with static. 

“What the-“

“ _Hello_! I’m afraid you have something that doesn’t belong to you, so I’ll kindly ask you to let her go, or I’ll make you.”

“What the hell _are_ you?” He shook his head and tightened his grip on Cherri. “Just- Back up kid, or you’ll end up dead too.” The man lifted the gun up to Alastor’s forehead. 

“Al, no!” Angel cried. Cherri kicked faster, shaking her head back and forth at the demon.   
even though Alastor knew this fat old man couldn’t hurt him, he still felt a wave of terror shoot through him when he felt the cold metal of the pistol on his forehead, directly on his scar. Despite this fear, he couldn’t let this guy take Angels friend, or worse, kill them both, so he shook the fright off as best he could, masking it with a chuckle.  


“Afraid it’s a bit to late for that, dear sir, but if you won’t comply, I suppose I’ll have to make you myself.”

“What-“

Alastor grabbed them mans large wrist and twisted without any resistance, snapping it like it was nothing, making the man scream in agony, dropping Cherri and the gun as he clutched his broken wrist. 

“What the fuck?” He cried, looking at he demon in horror as his antlers branched out, teeth sharpening and claws elongating, eyes flickering to turning radio dials and his back arching as he towered over the muscly man who shook in terror, eyes wide. 

For a few seconds Alastor stood still, the man frozen in fear. Cherri had ran over to Angel who hugged her protectively, tears falling down both their cheeks, when he noticed Alastor was looking at _him_. _Waiting._

For _permission_. 

From _Angel_. 

Angel stood up, grabbing their guns and backing away from the large man and angry demon, pulling Cherri with him. Shakily, just above a whisper he spoke. 

“ _ **Kill him**_.”

The two turned away from the gruesome scene as Alastor ripped the man to shreds, tearing his limbs off and tossing them to the dirt floor like trash, the mans guts were strewn across the ground, blood covering every inch of the lanky demon when he was finished. Angel turned around, grimacing at the scene. 

“You, uh.. you didn’t eat it?” He asked, stepping back as a finger rolled down towards him.

“I can’t bring myself to eat filth.” Alastor answered, snapping away the carnage, turning to look at the humans, a tired, apologetic look on his face. 

“I’m sorry I left, if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have went through that.” His ears were turned down and his smile was small, eyes back to normal, along with the rest of his body. He pulled his suit jacket off and tossed it to the ground with a wet splat, blood running off of it. Miraculously, his button up wasn’t soaked in blood like the jacket, only a few spots of the white fabric stained. 

“I shouldn’t have let that happen, I should have known you squishy humans couldn’t protect yourselves-“

The deer was cut off when a pair of arms wrapped around him, making him jump, looking down uncomfortably. Cherri Hugged the tall demon tightly, sniffling quietly. 

“Thank you so much! I was _terrified_!” She said into his shoulder. After his shock died down he hugged her back awkwardly, patting her head as she pulled away, wiping her eyes. 

“Your welcome.” He whispered. 

Angel stepped forward too, hand on the demons shoulder. 

“You shouldn’t have ran off like that, you had us really worried, but I’m glad you were there. Really, thank you, smiles.”

“Maybe we should go home now, huh?” Cherri suggested, smiling softly. 

Angel nodded and the three walked back to the car, getting in and starting the long drive back to the apartment. 

———————————————————

“Are you sure you don’t wanna stay? I know your still pretty shaken up.”

“I am, but I’ll be fine, I got this gun.” Cherri laughed, grin wide as she held the loaded pistol up. Angel smiled. 

“Alright, well be careful. Love ya toots.” Angel said, hugging his friend once more before she left. 

Angel sighed, turning around and walking to his room. His body was sore and he still felt a little shaky, but he’d by Lying if he said he didn’t feel a little safer with the demon. Speaking of, said demon sat on top of his desk, a thoughtful expression on his face. 

“Hey.” Angel said, announcing his presence. Both had taken showers to rid themselves of the dirty feeling stuck on their body’s, much to the deers dismay. Alastor had waited for the human to take his first after Angel suggested they ‘save water’ and bathe together. The demon seemed pretty adamant about not liking anything sex related, and turned away at any sex joke the human would spew, so he limited the amount of dirty jokes to make him more comfortable.

“Hello Angel.” He replied, looking at the human for a second before turning back to the slowly darkening sky. He still wasn’t used to the color, after spending so much time in a red wasteland, such calming natural colors seemed foreign. 

Angel couldn’t help but feel a little bad. They hadn’t gotten to spend time in the forest like he’d hoped they would. He wondered what Alastor had been doing while they were looking for him.  
Still, he really wanted to just relax and hang out with people he cared about... and a demon.

No, he did care about Alastor, though he hated to admit he’d gotten attached to the deer. He never really told him that. Angel wondered if Alastor still thought he hated him. 

“Sorry things didn’t go as planed, Al. Today was a day for you, and that stupid fat guy ruined it.” Alastor turned around and smiled softly. 

“It’s alright. Before that happened I still had fun, even the drive was far more than what I deserved.” 

Angel frowned and leant on the desk, his arms supporting him. 

“You deserve things, Al. You may be a demon, but that doesn’t mean your not worthy of nice things. You saved our lives, and you helped me out multiple times. Your plenty deserving.”

Alastor looked to the window again, smiling wider. 

“Why don’t we go to the backyard, huh? It may not be a big and fun as the forest, but it’s outdoors, right.”

Alastor turned to the human, tilting his head, an small smile on his face. 

“I’d like that.” 

Angel and Alastor sat side by side at the small table in his closed off backyard, the sky changing colors from blue to orange to purple as the sun set, the trees shifting softly in the cool night breeze, the singing birds soon turned to the soft chirping of crickets off in the distance as the two sat in silence, enjoying the outdoors.  
In the wind Alastor’s ears swayed softly side to side, twitching every now and then at the noises surrounding them, his eyes closed and a small content smile on his face. 

Angel stared at him, face hot and mouth shaping into a content smile as he watched the demon closely. 

He must be tired, he was out all day and used his powers an awful lot, and even though Angel knew he should tell him they should go inside, the warm air turning cold in the dim moonlit area, he didn’t want to. He looked so peaceful, content on enjoying something he never would have thought he’d get to experience again, and the thought that Angel was the one to give it to him made his heart soar. 

“Staring is rude, Angel.” 

Angels cheeks lit up, face hot as his eyes widened and he sat up, looking away quickly. Alastor opened his eyes and grinned at the embarrassed human. 

“S-sorry.” He mumbled, avoiding the deers gaze. Alastor said nothing, just shifting closer to the blonde and leaning his head on his shoulder, his fluffy ears pressed against his neck making Angel smile. It was nice, just sitting here in silence, having each other to keep them warm and happy in the cool nighttime air. 


	8. Bang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel heads to work after his little vacation, Getting pushed into an alarming situation, and Alastor’s forced to used outdated technology

Work had to come soon enough, even if Angel didn’t want it to. It was a business after all, a shitty one, but a business nonetheless. Of course, it was a new boss, and according to Cherri, this guy _wasn’t_ a complete asshole, as he owned a bigger production studio in downtown New York. Which was convenient, because Angel lived in new York. It wasn’t any Bellevue, but it was New York. He didn’t really want to leave the demon, now that he thought about it. He looked down at the sleeping form in a cocoon of blankets on the floor. Why was he on the floor? Because, in his own words, ‘ _I’d rather sleep on your bedroom floor then anywhere near you_.’ 

Right. He would pick the deer up, but he looked pretty content where he was, and Angel didn’t want to be late on his first day back, or lose a hand. He already wrote a note to Alastor for when he woke up, and he left a giant plate of venison on the counter that Cherri has gotten for him yesterday. Angel taught him how to use the house phone last week- even if the deer did so begrudgingly- so he could call him and see what he was doing while he was away. Alastor didn’t hide his disdain for the slightly outdated device, but complied, as it wasn’t to far off from the phones he had while he was alive. Yes, it was Much different, but at least he knew the basics, like dialing and picking up.. He didn’t use it much himself, because seriously, who uses landlines anymore? Not that Alastor knew that, so no hard no foul.

Angel huffed and grabbed his bag, walking out of his room only to be stopped by a shadowy hand. 

“Wha- ahh!” He screamed and pulled back, nearly falling over as the shadow manifested into Alastor’s regular smiling form. 

“ _Holy_ \- don’t do that ya dick!” He yelled, grabbing his bags strap tightly and glaring at the deer who looked awfully distressed, his smile shrinking. The demon didn’t say anything but looked the human up and down, face neutral besides the small smile on his face. The smallest he’d ever seen...

“Sorry for yellin’.. you jus’ scared me.. I didn’t know you were up.” 

“Where are you going?” He asked, smile growing at the apology. 

“To work.” 

Alastor paused. 

“I killed both your bosses, you don’t need to go to work.”

“We gotta new boss today, and if I don’t get goin’ I’ll be late on my first day back.”

He turned to leave but Alastor held him back again. 

“Dude, I gotta leave. _Let go_.” The demon was persistent, not releasing his sleeve. 

Angel sighed irritatedly. 

“look, I’ll be back in a couple hours, I left ya food on the counter and you got the landline in case anythin’ happens.”

“That’s not...” Alastor shifted on his feet, his ears pressing back an inch as his eyebrows furrowed.

Oh. 

He was worried about Angel. Huh. Weird. 

“I’ll be fine. This guy is different. I hear He treats his workers like humans.” 

The deers ears twitched and he let him go reluctantly, stepping back. His smile fell for a fraction of a second, but Quickly he brought it back up, so fast that if angel has blinked a millisecond earlier he would’ve missed it. 

“Alright. Have a nice day, Angel.”

The demon waved goodbye and used his shadows to head back into the room, most likely to stare out the window and the clock on his wall until he got back. 

Angel just sighed and mumbled a quick goodbye, heading out the door and locking it behind him. 

Time to get this over with. 

Alastor listened for the click of the door locking before he climbed onto the desk and stretched his legs out with a huff. 

This stupid human was making him feel such mushy feelings. He hated it. It made his skin crawl and his chest ache. He groaned loudly, not caring for the obnoxiousness of it because he was alone. 

He didn’t understand why Angel didn’t just let him steal money for him, it would be so easy, and no one would even suspect a thing! He sighed frustratedly, looking out the window blankly. 

Yes, he was bored. It’d been about a week since Angel and his friend had taken him to the woods, and even though he desperately wanted to ask for another chance to go out, he knew he couldn’t do that, with what happened last time, and he did have a _tiny_ bit of mortality left. Angel provided him with enough entertainment when he was home. Sometimes he’d need to go out somewhere, it be the store or even to get the mail, those times were barely tolerable, and for what reason, Alastor didn’t know.

He didn’t feel guilty for anything he did in life, despite knowing it was wrong.  
That’s something humans did all the time. It was natural. Humans do most things knowing full well what the consequences entail, but they still go through with it. It’s more of the sense of self control then anything else. Everyone has urges to harm another, only those who truly care so little about those consequences actually act on them. 

Alastor was one of those people. 

Judging on what he knew about Angel, he was one who acted on impulse almost eight percent of the time as well. Of course, Alastor didn’t think the human would go out and kill a person Who held power of him himself, that’s why he had Alastor. He did act on those unhinged urges in a way. More murder for hire. 

Alastor swung his legs over the side of the desk and hopped off, exiting the room and heading to the kitchen. He smiled manically at the lump of meat on the counter. Like always-

-He was _starving_. 

Angel stopped at the front door of the studio, his hand on the handle as his took in a deep breath and held it, opening the door and letting it out slowly. This was it. Hopefully, his first day back wouldn’t be so bad. 

Click!

Oh god.

...this is bad. 

This wasn’t the first time Angel was trapped at gun point. He grew up in the mafia, after all. He was semi used to situations like these, but that didn’t stop the spike of anxiety stabbing through his chest. 

Three tall men stood there in front of him, each holding a pistol aiming straight at him. Slowly, Angel lifted his hands, keeping as neutral as an expression as he could possibly muster. God, where was the demon when you needed him?

“Get him in the car.” One of the men spoke up, his voice deep and smooth. Two of the men put their guns in their pockets and grabbed Angels arms, pinning them behind his back. 

“Woah- hey, what’s goin’ on?” He finally said, voice shaking. The men didn’t answer, twisting his arms as he struggled against their hold and they pulled him away, out of the sleazy building and tossing him into the back of a old beat up van, slamming the door. Angel sat up just as the men got in, the one who spoke before getting into the drivers seat. 

“We know what you did, Anthony.” The man said, setting his gun by the steering wheel. A warning. Angel knew when he was being threatened. The gesture said ‘try anything and I’ll shoot your brains out.’

He swallowed thickly and glared. 

“I dunno what your talkin’ about.”

“You killed Valentino, who else could It’vebeen? You think we’re stupid?” The man growled out, staring the car as the other two men got in. 

‘Yes’ Angel wanted to say. But he bit his tongue and looked out the window. The men had tied a rope around his wrists, pinning his arms behind him painfully. In his pocket he had his phone still, so these guys weren’t very trained in the art of kidnapping. They were probably just a bunch of idiots with guns. Angel decided to play along, praying wherever they were taking him was somewhere a certain cannibal demon could get. He knew the deer was fast, so he wasn’t very worried. 

“Make sure he don’t move.” The man in the front seat said, jutting a thumb at the backseat. One man nodded, adjusting the mirror so that he could see Angel from the passenger side seat. He squirmed uncomfortably, looking down, the ropes tight around his wrist, stinging as they rubbed his skin raw. 

Okay, maybe he was a little worried. 

After what felt like five minutes They pulled up to a old building, one that looked like a sort of abandoned warehouse. Angels heart thumped fast with his rising anxiety, eyes wide showing his fright. 

The men climbed out of the van and opened the side door, pulling angel out forcefully and throwing a sheet over his head. His flinched when one man grabbed his arm painfully and pulled him forward, making him stumble. He didn’t dare say a word, hoping if he played nice they’d be more forgiving. He couldn’t see anything, the dark sheet making it impossible for him to adjust to his unknown surroundings. When the car had pulled to a stop it didn’t looked like anyplace Angel had been before. He might’ve walked passed it a couple times but he never paid this seemingly deserted part of town any thought. Now he wished he did. 

He was shoved into a cold room, the sounds of their footsteps echoing in the small empty space. 

“Ya gunna pay for killin’ our boss.” A different man grumbled deeply, his voice thick and heavy with a new York accent. 

Angel didn’t reply as he was pushed hard, the man holding back his restrained arms as he tripped and fell face first into the concert floor, his cheek stinging from the impact. His arms were still being held after he fell, and the same man pulled the limbs hard earning an audible pop as the joints moved and he stepped on his back, pushing him back down as his body raised up a bit. Angel groaned loudly, unable to keep quiet because of the painful action. 

Someone pulled the sheet off his head and he sighed in relief, the cloth only serving to up the disquieting feeling rising in his chest. 

“Up against the wall.” He heard distantly, from a man a ways away in the room. Probably at the door. He couldn’t see much from the awkward position he was stuck in. The man lifted him up using only his pinned arms, making the sore joints ache more. He let out a grunt of pain as he was thrown haphazardly against the wall. The stocky man walked up to him slowly and swung, punching him squeal in the jaw, making angels head whip to the side. He groaned as a metallic taste filled his mouth. He swallowed thickly and licked his lips, looking up and around the room. 

Two of the men had left, leaving only the man who’d grabbed him in the first place. He had a dark shaved beard and angry eyes. He was tall and big, and he held a gun in his hand. 

Typical for gangsters that worked under Valentino to suspect his biggest money maker of his murder first. Angel didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t these idiots. They made multiple mistakes in the little time they spent holding him from escape, and they were clearly not the sharpest tools in the shed. For starters, they kidnapped him in the middle of the day, then the proceeded to hold him in a old warehouse not even a mile away from the studio from what the drive felt like, and that’s not all, they didn’t even clean up after themselves! They weren’t even discreet, anyone could have seen them, and especially well, too, because they weren’t wearing anything to disguise themselves, which should have been the first thing they did before actually kidnapping him, questioning him and threatening him at gunpoint, in _public_. How stupid!

The man had said something that angel didn’t hear, but it wasn’t like he cared anyway. He could feel blood trickling down his nose from the earlier punch, but with his hands pinned behind him he couldn’t do anything about it. He let it flow. 

The man turned and walked out of the room for a second, reemerging with one other man. They talked discreetly for a bit before turning and chortling nastily to themselves. Angel wanted to scoff. Disgusting. The men walked over to him and he felt his heart thump nervously, picking up speed. One pulled him to lay on his back by his legs, making him yelp and huff. The other left the room after that, closing the door and locking it, a click echoing in the room to remind him that there was no possible escape. He gulped nervously, his eyes darting around the room frantically. He squirmed, trying to get his hands loose to no avail. The man climbed on top of him slowly, taking his time as he advanced on Angels vulnerable form. His breath hit his face like a brick, thick with the smell of booze and shit. He nearly vomited, turning his head to the side. The man grabbed his face forcefully and made him look straight at him. This was too much. He may be a slut, a whore, a horny bastard, but he wasn’t about to let his captor take a taste. If he’d learned anything living with Alastor, it was  
“ _don’t take something somebody doesn’t want to give you._ ”

Angel spit in the mans face and kicked him in the gut, sending him back forcefully, a thud sounding behind him. The man groaned and sat up, pulling his gun out and aiming it at him with surprising speed.

“You little shit! I shoulda killed you as soon as I saw you!” 

Angel winced and scooted back, Realizing his mistake, his hands still firmly tried behind his back. The man aimed and Angel screamed as white hot pain shot through his leg. He looked down at the bullet wound on his left leg, blood seeping out at an alarming rate. 

He groaned in agony and looked up, his vision already blurring from the searing pain. The man hadn’t had a very good aim, luckily, but he growled and grabbed Angel by the front of the shirt, pulling him up and breathing in his face, his breath somehow even worse, as itstill smelt strongly of beer and cigarettes and Angel grimaced, looking away again. 

“Your lucky we need you alive.” The man growled. He dropped Angel to the floor with a thump, making him fall on his back and whimper in pain. The man pushed him down further by stepping on his shoulder, pushing with so much force he heard a sickening snap and felt more fire. He cried out in pain and writhed on the floor, curling up.  
In the jostling, the ties on his raw wrists were coming loose, and in his hazy state he pulled and tugged at the rope, the pain nearly unbearable at this point, even as he felt his mind numbing slowly. The man walked out of the room with a satisfied look on his face, not bothering to see what Angel was doing as he left and slammed the door, a loud crack following as the wood on the frame broke from the force. 

“Ughh o-oh god..” Angel groaned, tears falling down his face as the rope fell off his damaged wrists. He pulled his arms up, only to flinch in pain and whimper again as the movement sent waves of agony through his very dislocated shoulder. He raised his left arm, slowly reaching into his pocket to grab his cracked phone. Luckily the big doofuses were too stupid to check him for anything that could help his escape. He’d add that to the growing list of mistakes they've made so far. He quickly tapped the call button once he found the landline contact and waited, making sure the volume wasn’t too loud as to alarm his kidnappers. He waited, praying and hoping that the demon would pick up, nearly sobbing with joy as there was a soft click on the other line as Alastor picked up. 

“ _Yes_?” 

“O-oh my god Ala-stor, you- I’m.. I need help... r-right now.”

“ _I’m sorry_?” 

“Some- some guys, Th-hey think I Killed Val.. you gotta help me.. I-I’m bleeding... a-a lot- please I can’t...”

“ ** _Where are you._** ” The demons voice was thickly laced with static that cracked in a high pitched whine that made Angel wince, every sense overwhelming. 

“I don’t know... I-I think somewhere near the studio.. an abandoned... abandoned W-warehouse.. hur-rry, please..”

“ ** _I’ll be right there_**.” 

Alastor so spoke fast, Angel could hardly understand what the demon said, his voice barley recognizable under all the static and radio feedback. The phone clicked as Alastor hung up the receiver, the line dying making Angel sigh in relief. He was coming. He was going to be fine, Alastor was coming to save him. Slowly, he slipped the phone back into his front pocket and managed to sit up, his right arm useless as it hug limp at his side, aching severely and his leg still leaking blood. The wound wasn’t too serious now that he looked at it and his eyes were a little clearer, not fogged you with emended pain, as now it was aching dull and numb, every wound on his body seeming to merge together to form one massive searing, painful, forever aching gash. It was just a graze. Much to his luck, and most of the bleeding had stopped, the blood drying around the injury, turning a deep dark crimson, but it still flowed. Angel pressed his hand against it firmly to stop anymore blood from coming out just as the door opened. He grimaced in pain and flinched as the pathetic wooden door was slammed against the wall, the same large man as before walking in fiercely, a aggravated look on his face. 

“You got out? Goddamnit! Fuckin’ idiots! Can’t even tie a knot!” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a large zip tie, stalking over to Angels damaged form and pulling him up, stepping over the puddle of blood beside him and grabbing his injured arm, making him cry out and crumple in pain. He pinned his raw wrists together and zipped the tie tightly making him whimper in agony, his Already damaged wrist rubbing together painfully. 

“Try gettin out of that one you bastard.” He grumbled, knocking him down on his right side, all of his weight falling on his dislocated shoulder. He cried out again, hissing and rolling on his back to take the pressure off, the pain shifting to his wrists and leg. He sobbed and rolled his head to the side as the man stepped on his chest, leaning on it heavily. Angel wheezed and attempted to curl up, struggling under the mans large boot. 

“This’ll teach ya t-“

The was a disgusting squelch that made Angel gag, his already sensitive stomach doing flips. He braced himself for a giant weight to fall on his chest, knowing and seeing that the man who stood on his chest was shot straight the the head, blood staining the wall behind him. Instead, the man fell to the side, a flash of a red coat letting him know Alastor had arrived. Thank fuck. 

The man was thrown to the side haphazardly, without any sense of remorse whatsoever. Alastor dropped to his knees ungracefully and assessed Angels injuries, looking him over quickly before helping him sit up carefully. Angels foggy eyes could make out blood staining the deers coat. He must’ve already taken care of the other two morons. Good. 

Al snapped the zip tie off Angels wrists easily and took off his coat, ripping the sleeve off and wrapping it around his lacerated leg. Angel winced, hissing in pain as the demon tied it off tightly. 

“Are you injured anywhere else, Angel?” The demon asked with an odd amount of sincerity and care he wasn’t used to, a wobbly smile on his face and brows creased with worry. 

“M’ arm.” He mumbled, head falling to the side, the blood loss finally getting to him. Alastor’s gaze shifted to his arm and he nodded taking his shoulder in his clawed hands. 

“This might hurt, are you ready?” He asked. Angel hummed, not caring what happened next know that Alastor was there. Al took his arm and pulled it out, shoving it back into place quickly with a snap. Angel groaned, not having the energy to scream. 

“We should get back now.. ah, _heads up_.” 

Angel was glad Alastor was at least giving him the ‘heads up’ he told him to say before teleporting anywhere a couple days ago when they had nearly gotten caught in the backyard. He laughed at the memory lightly before the deer teleported them away. When he opened his eyes they were back at his apartment, right at the front door.

God he was so tired. He hardly registered the deer carrying him back to his room; albeit with a bit of a struggle, not wantingto hurt him more- or how the deer carefully treated his wounds, covering him with his thick comforter when he was finished. 

He blinked at the deer when he was nudged back awake gently, a glass of water and two little pills shoved in his face. 

“I believe this will help with the pain, somewhat.” He said, looking away. After the deer had patched him up he was already starting to feel a bit better. He sat up very slowly, reaching for the pills with his left hand, his right arm still stiff and sore. He took them dry and grabbed the glass after, drinking it all in one go. 

He sighed after, setting the cup down on his nightstand. 

“Thanks, demon.” Angel said hoarsely, his head still pounding. 

Alastor’s smile twitched at how he was addressed but he didn’t comment, instead nodding and walking over to the desk, sitting on it and for once, not facing the window. Now, he looked at the human, the curtains drawn to help Angel get some rest, while also not hurting his sensitive eyes. 

“Are you alright?”

Angel snorted. “Well, no. I’ve been better.”

Alastor apologized, looking up with a wider smile that seemed a bit forced. 

“Why? Not like ya did anything.”

“I supposed. I just feel inclined to apologize. Nothing more. Are you perhaps hungry?” The deer said, changing the subject. 

“Nah, feelin kinda sick actually.”

He nodded, standing up and his exiting the room. 

“Okay. I’ll let you get some rest.” With that, the door was closed and Angel was left in the silence of his room. He sighed and shimmied down in his bed, relishing the cool sheets on his burning skin. That was a bit weird, and awfully unlike the demon, leaving so quickly like that. He didn’t think to hard on it, thinking the deer was just trying to hide his obvious concern. The pills were starting to work, making the pain just a dull ache. He felt a buzzing weight in his pocket and with his good arm he reached down and pulled his broken phone out, the cracked screen bright as it rung with Cherri’s contact on it. With slight hesitation, he answered, pulling it to his ear. 

“ ~~ _Hello_~~?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for typos


	9. Trigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel gets a call from Cherri who gives him some concerning news and Alastor learns the hard way what trigger words are

“Hello?”

The line was quiet for a few seconds before she spoke. 

“Hey Angie..”

She sounded sick, her voice nasally and hoarse. Angels brow creased worriedly. 

“You okay?” He asked, mind still a little foggy. 

“No. Some johns nearly killed me today. Just got out when they realized I wasn’t someone they could beat so easily.” She laughed before coughing away from the phone, the sound echoing. Angel winced. 

“Really?” He asked. “Me too! I didn’t get so lucky.” 

“Your shittin’ me. Are you okay?” 

“Hardly. Bambi ova here really saved my ass. I gotta bullet wound on m’ leg.”

“Oh shit you sure your good? Did ya get the bullet out?”

“I think, it’s only a graze, the demon looked like he knew what he was doin. Hurt like a _bitch_.” He laughed bitterly, trying to move his leg a bit and hissing when it trembled painfully. 

“What did they do to you?” He asked, concern lacing his tone. 

“Nothin to bad. Twisted my arm pretty badly, but it’s good now. A few bad bruises, but that’s about it.”

“Glad your okay, bitch.” He said with a wide grin. He heard Cherri’s echoing laugh and it made his smile grow. 

“Oh yeah you too motherfucker!”

The both shared a laugh, and it was a good feeling seeing as he felt like shit the entirety of this horrid day. He was nearly killed, fucked up his leg, the demon was mad at him for satan knows what, and he was at risk of being targeted now that his kidnappers were dead, and they had gone after Cherri, so he’d probably endangered his best friends life unintentionally too.. this was a good change of pace. Even though they were both hurt, they could laugh it off together. 

“Hey, how bout I come over since you probably can’t walk for shit, huh?” She suggested, waiting for his answer. 

“Oh fuck yes. Bring some wine.”

“You got it bitch! I’ll be over in five minutes!”

They said goodbye and hung up. Angel set his phone down beside the glass on his nightstand and sighed. God he was tired. At least Cherri was coming over, that was more good news for this terrible day. His room was getting darker as the night progressed so he reached over slowly, wincing at the strain and flicked his bedside lamp on.

He should probably tell ~~_the demon_~~ she was coming over, but he don’t want to yell. His throat hurt and he was extremely tired. He closed his eyes with a smile on his face, knowing now he was safe with his ~~_demon_~~. 

Alastor sighed and dropped his head to the countertop, his hands that were holding him upright staying up. His forehead ached but at least it wasn’t burning like before. He had to leave the room before he got too overwhelmed. Something about seeing Angel hurt and bedridden made his body tingle and chest tighten. It pissed him off, if he was perfectly honest, but deep down he knew that’s not what he should be feeling. The door clicked and his ears perked, his head shot up and his antlers grew and branched out wildly as thick static and voodoo symbols laced the air heavily, popping and fizzling with high pitched radio feedback. He growled as the door was swung open and he forced himself to look as absolutely menacing as possible, his eyes turning to radio dials and his smile curling. 

Cherri walked in with a bit of a limp, a few bruises visible on her body from the exposing clothes she was wearing that always served to make Alastor uncomfortable. She held two bottle of wine in her hands as she tuned her head to the deer. 

“Woah, down boy! It’s just me!” She said with a chuckle. 

Alastor paused. Forgetting that Cherri was strangely not at all frightened by him in any way whatsoever. He’d have to adjust to that, not being used to being treated like he _wasn’t_ a threat. 

She walked over, kicking the door shut and setting the bottles down on the counter beside him. 

“Don’t worry, _~~Demon~~_ , I didn’t forgot you~” she sang, reaching into her bag and pulling out a container full of venison, practically leaking blood. She set it down and Alastor reached for it, ignoring the way a certain word made his chest ache “Thank you”

“No problem. Goin all guard dog now, huh? Figures.”

“I am no guard dog.” Alastor sneered, not liking the mention of the heinous creatures. 

“Yeah yeah. Angie in his room?” She asked, patting him on the head before he pulled away. He didn’t mind touch from Angel or Cherri when it was warranted, as he’d gotten comfortable around the two, and only them... well, it wasn’t like he had anyone else to interact with, so he’d kind of been forced to get comfortable with them. He nodded. 

“Thanks ~~_demon_~~.” Cherri waved and headed down the hall, ignoring the conflicted look on the deers face. He couldn’t help but feel a spurt of jealously an hurt. The human called Cherri and hadn’t even told him. Why did she come if he was supposed to be resting Anyways? Did he just want company? Why didn’t he just ask him to stay? Was he mad? Did he not want him around? 

Alastor looked down and fiddled with the lid to the container Of meat Cherri has given him. It was normal now for the woman to give him little gifts like this, it be venison of some other kind of meat, cooking ingredients, fun little things she found that she thought might interest the deer... it was kind, a type of kind he wasn’t really used too. She was a bit eccentric, but Alastor was too, and even if they were eccentric in different ways, they still managed to get along quite well. 

Alastor sighed, pushing the bad thoughts away and instead picking up the book Cherri had given him a while ago, resting his elbows on the counter and attempting to read it, it being hard with his mind wandering elsewhere.. his throat tightened and his eyes burned, making it difficult to read the words on the page. 

“Hey Angie!” Cherri exclaimed, swinging the bedroom door open, but when wasn’t met with the same enthusiasm, she paused. Angel was sleeping, soft snores emitting from his unconscious form. 

She smiled. She could work with this, it wasn’t the first time they had a sleepover. She laughed at the memories of when they were younger, walking to his bed and slipping her shoes off, lifting the covers up and lying beside him. She sighed softly and pulled her phone out, scrolling through her social media while her best friend slept.

Angel slowly roused, blinking in the dim light of his warm bedroom. The bed was dipped a bit and he turned to his side, smiling wide at Cherri who was on her phone. 

“Hey suga’ tits.” 

Cherri jumped and turned to him laughing. 

“Mornin’ Angie! You were out like a light!”

Angel laughed, sitting up a bit. His right arm was a little less achey, more numb but it still pulsed with pain. He hissed. 

Cherri sat up and held his arm, helping him sit. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.” 

“I brought the wine, but I guess now wouldn’t be a good time, huh?”

Angel laughed, shaking his head.  
“Guess not.”

Cherri got up and grabbed his glass from the bedside table.  
“Want me to get you some pain pills and water?” She asked.

“Yeah, please.”

She clicked her tongue and smiled, shooting him finger guns which he reciprocated, waking into the kitchen and grabbing the pill bottle from the counter beside the ~~_de_~~ -.. ~~_demon_~~....

“ ~~Demon~~?” She asked softly. The deers shoulder shook and little spurts of static popped every few seconds. He had his head lying in his arms, his ears pinned back. Cherri worried if he even had his smile up anymore. 

She carefully put a hand on his shoulder and his cries got a bit louder, leaning into the touch. She wondered what was wrong, why the usually chipper smiling demon was crying by himself, but she didn’t ask, just standing there offering her silent comfort. After a few minutes his cries had yet to cease, that’s when Cherri got really worried. Alastor didn’t seem like the kind of person to just up and sob for random reasons..

“What’s wrong?” She asked finally. 

Alastor didn’t respond, instead, he dipped his head further down, his ears still pinned back as he trembled with tears. His static was loud now, nearly engulfing the whole room, voodoo symbols hanging in the air around them with his distress. She sighed and dropped her hand, grabbing the pills and filling the glass with water. She couldn’t stand there forever, and if the demon wanted to talk to her, she’d listen, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. She put the Pill bottle in her pocket and placed the cup down, using her right hand to pull the demon towards her. “Come on, let’s go in Angies room.” She suggested, pulling his arm harder when he stayed. 

“ ~~ _Demo_~~ \- _Alastor_ , come on.”

His ears perked a bit at his name and Cherri’s eyebrows raised. 

“ _Alastor_. What’s wrong? If you don’t wanna tell me, at least let Angel know.” _She said his name firmer in hopes of getting another response_. She did, and it was a simple shake of the head. 

She thought she heard Alastor whimper, but played it off as the static, grabbing his arm and pulling him a little more roughly then she intended. The deer growled, and pulled his arm back, holding it to himself, his head finally raised. Now Cherri could see the tear streaks down his cheeks, and the faint blush.. and his smile was gone. His ears were pinned back again, and he looked away, down at the countertop, dropping his arm with a hiccup. 

“Let’s go.” She said, motioning for the deer to follow. He had yet to say anything, and he groaned frustratedly, bringing his hands to his face and up to his hair to pull it hard, dropping back on the counter with a dull thud. 

Cherri winced. “Don’t do that.. if ya want to be alone I get that, just... don’t expect me not to tell Angie, or to stay away for longer then ten minutes.”

The demon didn’t respond, his body still shaking and Cherri feared he had started crying again. She grabbed the cup and hesitantly left down the hall. 

She opened her friends door with a distraught look on her face, making Angel frown. 

“What’s the matta?”

“Somthins wrong with your ~~_demon_~~.“

Angel scoffed. 

“Nah. He’d been actin weird since this morning. He’s fine.”

“He was crying.”

Angel stopped, looking up. “Just now?”

Cherri nodded and angel lifted the blankets, carefully swinging his legs over the side of the bed and attempting to stand. 

“Woah, Angie, don’t do that you’ll hurt yourself!” Cherri protested, holding his arm and pushing him to sit back down. 

“I gotta- ah, fuck..” angel rubbed his face and fell back on the bed with a groan.  
“I wish he’d just tell me what’s wrong. I don’t get what his deal is.”

“Maybe he’s conflicted.”

“I can’t imagine ~~_the demon_~~ getting conflicted over anything.”

Cherri frowned at that. They way he used ‘ ~~ _the demon_~~ ’.. it seemed like that’s what made Alastor so upset. Now that she thought about it, every single time one of them addressed him by ‘ _ ~~the demon~~_ ’ he had an odd look on his face, starting from a displeased sneer to now, which was... breaking down into hiccuping sobs when he was alone..

“I just don’t think he likes to be called that. Maybe it makes him feel bad about himself.”

Angel hummed. “Maybe. If he doesn’t like be called ‘ ~~ _demon_~~ ’ I won’t call him that. The last thing I’d want to do is make him feel like shit.” 

Angel got it. He could relate to not wanting to be called a certain thing based on what he was or what he looked like. If Alastor wanted to be addressed a certain way he should be able to say that verbally without anyone judging him or miss-addressing him. Angel just wished he’d come out and said something earlier, that way he wouldn’t have hurt the poor guy so much. Didn’t he know that Angel wouldn’t care? He wouldn’t yell at him, or kick him out, or send him back to hell just because he didn’t want to be called something that made him upset And uncomfortable, though he could see how he would be nervous, or not want to go through with it. Bad things could happen, and it was normal to feel anxious or worried of the consequences of telling someone such a personal thing. It was a trigger word, and Angel didn’t know if it was something he just wasn’t accustomed to since going to hell or if coming to earth is what started it, Maybe a Past traumatic experience, but he did know that he wouldn’t be calling Alastor ‘ ~~ _demon_~~ ’ anymore. Angel was very accepting. 

“You think he’s okay now?” He asked, looking to his side after Cherri had sat beside him. He lifted his legs to lie on the bed correctly again with a sigh as she shrugged.

“Probably not, but I offered for him to come in and he didn’t-“

There was a hasty knock on the door and a dark shadow slipped under the door, bolting to the bed so quickly the humans could hardly see it. Angel jolted as he felt two arms wrap around his thankfully uninjured arm, furry ears pressing against his shoulder. 

“ ~~ _De_~~ \- Alastor? What’s wrong?”

The deer shook his head quickly, burying his face in his side making Angel laugh softly, moving so his arm wasn’t between him and Alastor, but around the deer instead. He pressed himself against the injured human and Cherri smiled, climbing into bed with the boys and lifting the blankets over all of them. She lied right beside Angel as not to freak out Alastor, and her friend grinned over at her, motioning to the deer. Cherri shared his grin and made herself comfortable, reaching over and flicking the bedside lamp off. 

The only sound in the room was the soft radio music playing from Alastor, laced with quiet static and playing continuously, lulling them all to sleep. 


	10. Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel comes to terms some feelings that he’d been trying to avoid. To bad Alastor is the one Who has to be subjected to them.

When Angel woke up neither Cherri nor Alastor where in bed, which made him wonder if that had even happened or not. 

His senses came rushing back to him all at once and he groaned. His arm was no longer hurt, more sore then anything, but his calf was one fire. It felt like a thousand burning nails being stabbed into his open wound. His head pounded, a splitting headache making the pain worse. He let out a shaky breath once he got a hold of himself and threw the blanket off, not caring that it fell to the floor. He swung his legs over the side of the bed slowly and looked to his side, noticing a bottle of pain pills and a glass of water on his nightstand. He took them and sighed, finishing the water in just a few quick gulps. 

The door opened obnoxiously loud and Angel looked up, frowning at the noise. He couldn’t know who was the one who swung the door open like that because both Cherri and Alastor were likely to do something so noisome. 

Surprisingly enough, both walked into the room, smiles wide. 

“Your up!”

“We made food!”

Angel smiled and rubbed his face. 

“Thanks you two. I’m good though, not really hungry, maybe later.”

“That’s okay, how you feelin’?” Cherri asked, walking over to her friend and taking a seat beside him. 

“I’m okay I guess, my leg hurts a lot, but my arm is good now.”

He lifted his right arm up and stretched it out, balling his hands in a fist and wiggling his fingers to show them it was in fact fine. 

Alastor stood by the door, a slight look of uneasiness on his face, though he kept his signature smile. Angel didn’t know what the point of it was anymore, they both knew what he looked like without it at this point. Speaking of which..

“Hey, cher, can I talk ta Bambi for a sec?”

Cherri nodded and stood, patting Angel on the shoulder and walking out of the room, closing the door. 

Angel sighed. 

“You look like you want to say something.”

“You need to quit.”

He snorted. “What?”

“Quit. You can’t work there anymore, Angel, it’s a hazard to your safety-“

“Well I’m sorry, it’s kinda my only source of income.”

“We can get money other ways!”

Angel scoffed, glaring at the deer. 

“Are you serious? You can go stealing money, it’s _illegal_!”

“So is murder but you didn’t seem to object to that.”

Angel threw his hands up frustratedly, giving Alastor a dirty look. 

“Angel, you’ll just keep getting put into situations were in you hurt yourself! It’s dangerous, and, forgive me for being blunt, but utterly stupid!”

“Smiles, relax. Things will work themselves out, I promise.”

“You can’t promise anything! Your stupid meat sack of a body is basically useless right now! It’ll take months before you can do anything!”

“If your gunna insult me at least have it make sense!” 

“It does make sense! Humans are weak, and this only proves my point-“

“You were human once too you know! Stop acting like your above me! Your nothing but a no good radio fucking murderer! You eat people! Your not good, or better, or stronger! So shut the fuck up! Insulting me will get us nowhere!”

Alastor was silent, head turned in a way that angel couldn’t see his expression. His throat ached and he panted softy, out of breath from his small rant. He felt a little bad. He knew Alastor didn’t like to be yelled at, especially now as he was probably still hurting from yesterday, and he just shoved something that he knew made him upset in his face. Yes, fighting was immature, Alastor said that all the time, but why was he always the one to start it if it was so juvenile? He sighed. 

“Al I’m sorry, y’know I hate fighting, and I can’t do shit without you right now. Your a realist, I get it, I’m just tryna look at the bright side here, even though there might not be one. I know it’ll be okay eventually, but we gotta work together here.” 

The demon nodded and walked out the door, closing it on his way out. 

“Oh Al! Come on! Ugh..” Angel groaned, running his hand through his hair. 

The deer needed time, Angel understood that. He’d give him as much time as he needed, even if it was frustrating.

After a few minutes of silent cursing and painful attempts to stand, he finally gave up and waited a little longer, curling on his side as he waited for the pain and spinning to stop. 

He didn’t try and stand again until he felt the effects of the pain killers really start working, and the room to stop spinning. 

When it did, it still hurt, but he pushed through it and walked out of the room, limping down the hall and trying to put as little amounts of pressure on his injured leg as possible. 

When he got to the kitchen he didn’t see Cherri or Alastor at the counter, but at the couch. Alastor looked angry, his antlers bigger then usual and his eyes radio dials as Cherri sat beside him, a supportive, understanding look on her face, one that was still there even when his mood switched instantly as he noticed Angel limp in. Cherri stood up and rushed over to him. 

“Doesn’t it hurt still?” She asked. 

“Nah, I’m good. Gettin’ a lil’ hungry.”

She smiled at that, jutting a thumb back at the stovetop, various pots of food covering it. 

“We got that covered.”

“Wow. You two went all out, huh?” 

She shrugged. “It was mostly Al, but he nearly chopped his finger off trying to be a show off.” She laughed, looking up at the deer who seemed to be in a pissy daze. She obviously knew something was up, and that only made Angel feel worse for yelling like he did. He couldn’t help it, the deer was hot and cold all the time, one minute he was all cuddly and caring then the next he was cynical and insulting. He just got angry now and then, even though he knew the deer was just expressing his difficult emotions the only way he knew how, with insults and aspersions. 

“Yeah.. smells great, what is it?” 

Cherri didn’t reply, somehow knowing that Angel wasn’t asking her, but Alastor. The deer didn’t say anything, fiddling with his microphone, eyebrows creased and smile widening. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. 

“Al come on, I said I was sorry, ignoring me is irrational, you know that.”

With a frustrated groan the deer stood up and turned away, his smile sharp. 

“It’s jambalaya.” He grit out, using his shadows to go down the hall. 

“Shouldn’t we get him?” Cherri asked a bit confused. Angel shrugged with a huff and gave his friend an exasperated look. 

“Nah. He’s angry, I get that. Kinda insulted him back there, we should give him time to cool off.” He answered. 

She nodded and grabbed a bowl and fork, handing it to him. 

“We should eat then. You gotta try this stuff- it’s fucking amazing.” He grinned at her enthusiasm and laughed. 

“Sure thing, babe!”

After they finished eating they sat down and watched tv, specifically the news, noting that the police had already found the crime scene. Angel panicked a bit at first, but Cherri reassured him, saying Alastor most likely cleaned up all evidence of him ever being there, so they were fine. He didn’t doubt her, or Alastor. They were both trustworthy- though some more so then others..

It’d been about an hour and the deer still hadn’t come out, making Angel worry. What was he doing? He couldn’t be that mad, could he? He didn’t think Alastor was one to hold a grudge.. well, yes. Alastor did seem quite capable of that, but he liked to stay optimistic. He had taken another dose of pain killers earlier, so the pain in his leg was minimal, enough for him to get around on his own with little help. He sat up after the sitcom they were watching ended. 

“I should check up on Bambi, make sure he didn’t destroy my room in a hissy fit.” Cherri clicked her tongue and smiled. 

“I’ll be here.” Her phone dinged and she picked it up from the coffee table. Her smile morphed into a frown as she read the text. 

“Oh. Or not. I got go Ang, if that cool with you two?”

Angel smiled and shook his head. 

“Totally toots, I got it ova here, don’t worry, we’ll be fine. Call me, okay suga’ tits?”

“Of course!” She stood up and grabbed her bag from the couch, giving Angel a hug before leaving. 

“By Angie! By Al!” She shouted Alastor’s name a bit louder so the deer could hear her, but he wasn’t sure if he was even listening. He waved and motioned a little kiss and wink, making Cherri laugh. 

“Cya!” The door shut with a click and Angel sighed, his smile soft. 

“Okay. Time to check up on drama.”

He limped a little, but made his way to his room, where he assumed Alastor had ran off to. He knocked on the door, surprised when he found it wasn’t locked, or even closed. 

“Hey Al? Your not still pissed are ya? I said sorry..”

Alastor sat in the corner of the dark room, the only light coming from his eyes, giving off a red glow. His knees were pulled up a bit and his microphone was held tightly in his claws, the static minimal compared to the soft music playing around him. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it sounded nice, very soothing. The deer was still smiling, but it was tight, and looked extremely forced. He didn’t seem to acknowledge the human in the room at this point, closing his eyes as the quiet lullaby grew louder. It sounded like an old music box, static fizzing in between every few notes. 

Angel took a few steps forward, careful of his injury. He couldn’t tell if the deer was still made or not, so he proceeded with caution. Alastor opened his eyes and his ears swiveled to the sound the human was making. He turned his head a bit, not looking at Angel, but to the floor by his feet. He didn’t advance any further as the music grew louder. He could really hear it now. Was this what Alastor did when he was feeling mad? He could certainly see the appeal, the music made his racing heart slow and his anxiety drop. He could also see why he did it alone, not wanting to seem “ _weak_ ”, not that Angel would ever say that, because it wasn’t true. 

Music seemed like it made Alastor calm, which was probably why he slept with it on, or sometimes played something soothing when he was doing something he wasn’t comfortable with. 

They had yet to exchange words since him entering the room, but Angel didn’t dare start. He seemed to understand that Alastor didn’t want to talk right now, which was out of character. Alastor loved to talk. 

He took a few steps closer, wincing at the pain that shot up his leg, but he kept going, slowly bending down and sitting when he was about three feet away from the angry deer. 

He scooted closer when he looked away, back at his microphone as he twisted it a bit in his hands. His shaking hands. 

Angel took a deep breath and opened his mouth, knowing he was taking a gamble with this. He kind of wished Cherri hadn’t had to leave so soon, but he understood the woman had her own things she needed to take care of. The red stags eyes glowed brighter for a second as if sensing the human was going to speak and his eyes flickered to radio dials. 

“Al-“

Radio feedback blared insanely loud, making Angel cover his ears and wince painfully. He could swear he felt his ears bleed. He opened his eyes when it had stopped and let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. 

“Wow.. okay, I get it...” he whispered to himself, sitting back up once he was sure the deer was finished. 

His eyes were back to normal and he was still fiddling with his mic, ears pinned back now and twitching horribly. He guessed even the deer wasn’t immune to his own noise. Feeling bad, Angel took another gamble and scooted much closer, leaving only a few inches between them. Now Alastor’s deep red eyes flickered straight at him, making him feel a little anxious. After a while he turned back to his microphone and stretched his legs out, ears twitching back upwards. 

“I’m still mad, _darling_.”

Angel held back a snort, nodding. 

“I can tell.. look, I’m sorry, alright? It wasn’t fair to say those things, it’s just you can be a real dick sometimes, y’know?”

Alastor turned to face Angel, moving his whole body, not just his head. He crossed his legs like Angel and set his microphone on his lap. 

“It’s just... I know your angry, but I’m _terrified_.” He admitted, voice thick. 

“I mean- I could’ve _died_.. I know you were there, and I’m so glad you were but it was scary! I know I haven’t shown that, but that’s because I tried not to think about it. I thought pushing away how scared it made way deep down would make me feel better but it’s _really_ not, I just realized how _real_ this all is and it’s a little to much to handle..”

He laughed a watery laugh, shaking his head. Alastor’s ears were bent a little back in what looked like discomfort and his eyes were downcast as Angel spoke. 

“I’m _so fuckin’ scared_ , Al. Their coming for me, I just know it. And there’s nothin’ I can do. I mean- what could we _possibly_ do to fix this? Kill everyone that comes after me? People will start to realize a pattern! I’m stuck in this endless loop of fear and pain all because I couldn’t just man up and quit! I had to summon a **~~_demon_~~** just toattempt to get my life back together, only end up making it _worse_!”

He threw his hands up aspirated, scoffing, tears rolling down his cheeks. 

“I _don’t_ regret summoning you.” He said after realizing how that could be misconceived by the deer. 

“You’ve made everything so much more.. _fulfilling_.. I’m glad your here with me.”

“...thank you..” Alastor seemed a little confused, but to be fair, Angel was confused too. 

“I’m so fucked up, Al. Everything that could possibly go wrong in my life has gone wrong, what can I do anymore? I’ve fucked my life up, everyone’s after me..”

“I won’t let anyone harm you.”

The human looked up, sniffling a little and wiping his cheek. 

“What?”

“ _I’ll protect you_!” Alastor put his hands on angels legs and sat up on his knees, his eyes bright. 

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you anymore- we don’t have to kill them all, I can just scare them! It’s not like they would come back after seeing me right? How will they explain it? A demon tried to murder them? No one will believe a single word they say!”

Angel sniffed again and nodded, laughing a little. 

“Yeah, I guess that’s true..”

“You don’t have to be scared anymore, Angel, not with me around. I promise darling, I’ll make sure no one hurts you like _They_ did again!” 

The deers cheery chipper mood was back and it made Angel smile. He liked seeing Al so determined and excited and _happy,_ it made him look human. He did wondered what he looked like as a human, but he couldn’t ask that. How would he even answer? It would be a rude question and he didn’t want to crush the stags mood. If Alastor wanted to protect him, he was completely fine with that- he welcomed it. 

“Thanks Al, I already feel safer bein’ in the same room as ya. You’ll be my guard deer.” He giggled and wiped his cheek again. Alastor nodded and waved his wrist, shoving a handkerchief in Angel’s face. He blinked and stared at it for a second and Alastor got inpatient, using it to wipe the rest of the humans tears himself. He was careful, very gentle and it made him blush brightly. His face was hot and it made him squirm as the deer pulled away and flicked the cloth away with a little blip sounding. 

“T-thanks..”

“Of course!” Alastor said happily, smiling at him. He sat back and sighed, picking up his microphone which has fallen to the side when he sat up. 

“I really am sorry for what I said, I didn’t mean it, I was just frustrated and upset.” 

Alastor waved a hand nonchalantly, standing up and reaching down to help Angel. 

“I said it was fine, Angel, you don’t need to keep apologizing, I forgive you-“

He accepted his outstretched hand, but shook his head. 

“It’s not _fine_!” He said as he stood up. 

“Look, I know you hate showing emotions and shit, but you helped me so now I’m helpin’ you!” 

He tilted his head, obviously confused. 

“I don’t understand-“

“Damnit Al! Just admit I hurt your feelings!”

Alastor froze for a bit, a record scratch playing. Hah. Now he had him. Sound effects like that only played when the deer was caught in the headlights. 

“I’m sorry, I just-“

He didn’t finish his sentence, instead reaching forward to pull the demon into a tight hug. Alastor stood still, like a statue in the humans grip, unmoving and Angel sighed, hugging tighter. 

Finally the deer spoke, his voice wavering and it’s static tin gone. 

“ _I-I said I forgive you_..”

“I know. I just wanted to make sure, because if you didn’t you would’ve pulled away.” Angel felt Alastor shake with a laugh and finally hug back, albeit a bit awkwardly at first. He dropped his head into the humans shoulder, his smile less tight, more relaxed. 

“Your warm.” He noted with a hum, turning his head to the side, facing angels neck. He felt himself blushed wildly as his fluffy ears twitched under his ear. 

_Was he teasing him?_ No, that didn’t seem like something Alastor would do.. ah fuck, he couldn’t help it. He felt his face grow hot again. With a deep breath he pulled away hastily, his eyes closed tight as he held onto Alastor’s shoulders and kissed him straight on the lips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .......Uh oh
> 
> I like leaving for long periods of time and updating once a month I guess


	11. Shotgun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel wants to forget anything happened between him and Alastor. Alastor’s fine with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait- hope you’re prepared for an extra long chapter to make up for it

Alastor went rigid, blinking at the human as he continued to lean in, pressing up against his lanky frame. He pulled away, nearly tripping on his staff as he backed up. The static was loud and the soft song that was playing was forgotten, replaced with eerie white noise. 

“W-what..”

Angel opened his eyes and backed up, taking in a breath, and running a hand through his hair. He let the breath out shakily and shook his head. 

“Ah shit... I-I’m sorry Al, I shouldn’t have done that-“

“It’s quite fine.” The deer reassured quickly, waving his hands. “I just wasn’t... expecting it, is all.”

“Oh.. okay, can we just pretend that didn’t happen?” He said with a nervous laugh, rubbing his neck and fixing his posture. 

“Certainly!” 

Alastor seemed to have recovered, faster then Angel was expecting, and he was glad that the kiss didn’t ruin the moment.. maybe it did, but at least the guy wasn’t mad again. He knew he wasn’t one for sensual touches and such. 

He sighed and nodded.

“Okay..” 

he needed to rest, and he wasn’t going to get it standing around in an awkward daze. He turned to his bed and limped over to it, his leg starting to hurt again. 

With a huff he sat down and leaned back, pulling the blankets to rest on top of him. 

“I’m goin’ ta bed, bud. So you can go and do whatever it is you do when I sleep, or you can chill in here, I don’t care.” 

With that, he turned on his side and closed his eyes, his face still hot from the kiss. He blushed deeper just thinking about it. 

_ Kiss? What kiss? Ugh. _

After a few seconds of the human scorning himself, There was a soft dip in the bed. 

He opened his eyes and yelped, scooting back and nearly falling off the side of his bed. 

Alastor was lying beside him, smiling cheekily at him. His red eyes illuminated the dark room and made Angels skin crawl. How was he doing that? How did he not hear him come into bed? He huffed and glared at the snickering deer. 

“That wasn’t funny. Scared the shit outta me, smiles.” He said seriously. 

“My apologies, your quite easy to scare.” He said with a Cheshire grin. 

He got underneath the blankets and scooted closer to the human, making Angels eyes widen in surprise. 

“W-what are you doing?” He asked shakily, throat tightening and eyes glazing over dangerously fast. 

“You seem distressed. I’m trying to comfort you, but I’m not sure how to go about it.”

That made sense. Alastor didn’t seem like the type of friend you called when you needed a shoulder to cry on, he was the one you called when you wanted to do something illegal. Angel sniffled, feeling his eyes water. God this was too much. 

Alastor seemed a bit confused, but persisted. He leant his head on the humans chest, careful of his antlers, and wrapped his arms around him, bringing him into a comforting hug. 

Angel wrapped his arms around him immediately, pulling him closer. The deer made a small sound of surprise but didn’t resist, even though the touch was a bit much. It left a tingling feeling on his skin, and it made him want to run away, away from the thing that was making him feel so prickly, but at the same time it was nice, like finding something he’d been yearning for. It was warm and welcoming. 

He decided to focus on providing angel the emotion release he so clearly needed instead of the many odd feelings and questions swarming in his head. 

The human let out a soft sob and buried his face in Alastor’s hair. His ears twitched as one of Angels hands tangled themselves in his red locks and he jumped a little, not expecting it. 

Alastor breathed out softly, his face hot with an odd lingering heat on his lips. 

Okay. Another steady breath-

This wasn’t so bad. He felt a little awkward attempting to do something he was so unfamiliar with, but this wasn’t at all as horrible as what he had been expecting.

He was actually a little unprepared for how this was making him feel. Many emotions were fizzling deep inside his chest, and some he was familiar with- others confused him, and some even frightened him, but he pushed them deep down to evaluate later. He raised his head a bit to rest his face against angels chest, instead of head-butting it. 

after a while, the humans cries had reduced to the occasional hiccup or sniffle and Alastor felt relieved. He felt Angel running his hand through his hair slowly and the feeling made his eyes close and smile widen with blissful content.

Angel sniffled and laughed, hugging the deer tighter. 

“Look at you, you can be my emotion support deer  _ and _ my guard deer. Two for one, scored big this time, huh?”

Alastor hummed in response, exhaustionovercoming them both. He sighed, dropping his head back on top of Alastor’s. 

“Thank you.” He mumbled, feeling himself fall deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. No music tonight, but that was fine, because this time they fell asleep to the sound of each other’sbreathing, and the soft radio hum buzzing around the dark room. 

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

“What’s so wrong with it?”

“You can’t kill wild animals with kitchen knives, it’s unethical.”

“Well I don’t know about that, it’s more.. not morally correct coinciding with others beliefs then unethical.”

“...that’s the same- You’d have to be _unhinged_ to do that!”

“I _am_ unhinged, but I wouldn’t call it that, call it- _creative_.”

“Yeah, what’s so creative about sawing a deers head off while it’s still alive?”

“Devine sportsmanship?”

Angel scoffed and turned from the bag on the bed, giving Alastor a disgusted look. 

“Yeah. We’ll stick to guns.”

Alastor snorted, waving a hand. 

“ _You’ll_ use guns.” He corrected.

A month and two weeks. It’d been one month, two weeks, 4 days and 6 hours since Angels leg healed- courtesy of alastor’s insistent counting habits- well enough to go out and spend time with his favorite not-so-demon buddy. 

The two were going hunting. Again. 

This time though, they’d agreed to stick together. 

Much to Angel’s disappointment, Cherri couldn’t make it this time. She had a job interview at some junky mall near the center of town or something. She was very excited though, because it payed surprisingly well and it wasn’t to hard of a job. He was happy for her, and while he would’ve liked to get an interview at the same place, he knew it wasn’t a good idea. Sure, It’d been over a month after the kidnapping incident but Alastor was still a little bristled and overprotective about it all. He even snapped at Cherri sometimes. Of course he’d apologize after, which was nice. It was comforting to have someone protect him, even if it was a little suffocating at times. He’d spent so much of his life fending for himself and dealing with so much crap, it was just a nice change of pace. 

He was happy they got along, though. He wasn’t so sure if they would at first, but surprisingly the two had very similar personalities. They both liked fun and weren’t afraid to do something dangerous or illegal, both of which Angel found particularly appealing in a friend. He knew Cherri had a soft side, and even though Alastor didn’t like to show it, he had one too. They both cared about him deeply and that made him feel less alone and much more loved and safe. His friends were the best. 

He was also very glad to be able to actually head out without Alastor having a panic attack. He’d been very clingy and paranoid, but all the times he’d gone out to get groceries or for something else more then five minutes away, he’d never been ambushed or attacked. The first time he went out alone after the incident, he came back and the apartment was trashed, with Alastor hyperventilating in the corner of his room mumbling things in a language Angel couldn’t understand.

That shook him up pretty bad, so he stayed in for a week after that, just to make sure it didn’t happen again. Having to pry the deers clawed hands off him was always heartbreaking, but it had to be done. He seemed to have gotten over it a pretty quickly though, and he always sent his shadow out with Angel when he needed to go out for protection. It was easier in the night for the shadows to go with him, but night time was also the most nerve wracking for angel, so the shadowy figure trekked through the minimal shadows around him to keep him protected during the day. Alastor could also use the shadows to pop up to angels aid if needed. He hadn’t needed to do that so far, but he was ready if the need ever did arise. 

Now that Angel was all healed up, Alastor was a little more stable, and Cherri had agreed some house sit after her interview, they could have some much needed outdoors time together.

“You ready, smiles?”

He couldn’t help the grin on his face when the deer bounced excitedly on his heals and smiled wickedly. 

“Why of course!”

“Great, let’s hit it.” He grabbed his hunting bag and slung it on his shoulder, grabbing the car keys and heading out, the deer close behind him. It was early in the morning, the cool air was crisp as the sun rose higher and the day began. 

Alastor had on the hoodie Angel had given him, and though he didn’t like it at all, he dealt with it, and got into the back seat of the car, quickly pulling it off and settling in for the long drive. 

“Buckle up.” Angel reminded, noticing the bad habit Alastor had of ignoring this simple task. 

The deer scoffed and after a moment of struggle that Alastor would absolutely Not admit to, the were ready to head off. 

The human paused after buckling his own seatbelt. 

“You don’t wanna sit in the front?” Angel asked, looking back before he started the car. Alastor looked unsure, fluffy ears twitching at the annoying thought of trying to buckle his seatbelt again. 

“I don’t think that would be safe, people could see me easier.” He replied. 

Yeah, he was probably right. The backseat was more secure. 

He hummed and gave a little nod, starting the ignition and pulling out of the parking space. He heard the happy little static blips from behind him and he snickered.

He was a little nervous, he couldn’t lie. He didn’t want anything to go wrong, but if they stayed together, nothing could, right? He decided if he kept thinking about they’d never be able to have fun, and he knew Alastor was extremely excited for this. He really chased after all the little bits of humanity and familiarity he could get, and there wasn’t much familiarity wise- it being a whole 90 years later and all. It was a new world, and Alastor was just barely starting to adapt.

As they drove Alastor would comment on what he saw, with little quips or stories about things they passed when he was alive.  
  


“Angel, where are we?”” He asked after a minute of being silent. 

Angel looked back at him through the rearview mirror, then looking back at the road. For a second he didn’t answer, it being an odd question to ask so long into their friendship. He had just realized- Alastor had been with him for a while now and he was just now asking where they lived. 

“Uh, New York.”

Alastor beamed. 

“Oh! Ive been to New York!” He said, obviously excited to tell Angel the story. 

“Really? Did you grow up here?” 

“No no no, I lived in New Orleans, but I’ve been a lot of places.”

“New Orleans? How come ya don’t got that accent then?”

The deer shrugged, looking out the window. 

“I trained myself not to have it, it wasn’t to hard. It was just easier that way, being a radio host and all.”

Angel hummed in understanding. That made sense actually, it being a time when many things weren’t accepted. Angel felt a little bit of rage bubble up inside him, thinking about how the poor guy basically had to force himself to be a whole other person just to be somewhat accepted in society. Even though Angel wanted to bring this up, he also didn’t want to damper the mood. Alastor was obviously having a good time now, despite his difficult past. No need to ruin that child-like glee.

“So when’d you go to New York?” Angel asked instead. 

“I don’t remember when exactly, but I know why I came.” He said darkly, grin sharpening. 

“I forget your a murderer.” He mumbled, cracking a small smile at the way Alastor waved a hand nonchalantly, rolling his eyes. 

“It was fun, running away, I got to see a lot of places and meet a lot of people! Though not all of them were worth keeping around..”

“Maybe some time we can go around the city and see what you remember. I’m not sure most of the stuff you saw will still be around, but maybe, you never know.”

“swell.” He heard. 

Alastor fell silent again after that, pointing out things he saw every now and again. Still, there was something Angel couldn’t get off his mind. They were nearly there, maybe about 30 more minutes till they arrived, but he couldn’t focus. 

“Hey Al”

“Hm?”

“you said there was people you’d met while you were alive, yeah?”

“Yes!”

Angel huffed, not wanting to upset the deer. 

“Well, when they... kicked the bucket, did they go to hell, too?”

Silence.

_ uh oh.. shit.  _

“Oh Al, Never mind I-“

“Shut your mouth, I’m thinking..”

He paused, his mouth hanging a bit open. 

“Wha-“

“Yes! There was two people I knew in life that also went to hell!”

“Oh... who? If you don’t mind my askin’”

“There was Rosie, who I grew up knowing, what a doll she was, very kind! In my standards, at least. Then there was mimzy! She was a flapper.”

“...huh.. sounds, uh- like you were the ladies man, ay Bambi?” He said, a little disappointed. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were more then friends- rather something more. Angel bit his lip, mentally slapping himself. _Stop!- Why did he care about Alastors sex life? It’s none of his business! Ugh-_

“Maybe. I never thought of women like that, though. If those I’ve met have found interest in me, I wouldn’t know- nor would I ever know if Rosie or mimzy ever felt as such, because they never made a _move_ so to say. If they had, I’d never noticed before. Maybe that’s why we got along so well. Because I didn’t notice.”  
  


Angel... didn’t know what to take out of that. Was he saying he never thought of women in a sexual manor? Did that mean he was gay? He understood having those kinds of feeling back then wasn’t really something you could flaunt like now, so he could understand him feeling uncomfortable around men.  _ And _ _women_ , he supposed. 

“So, what? You like dudes?”

Alastor sputtered a bit, shaking his head. 

“ _No!_ Well- _no_ , it’s just..”

“Hey, it’s cool, it ain’t like how it was back then, guys can like guys now, and girls can like girls, I don’t judge.”

“ _That’s not it_ , I just don’t...”

Alastor was starting to seem a little uncomfortable, and Angel knew he shouldn’t keep pushing, but he really wanted to know what was wrong. This seemed to be bugging Alastor, and maybe talking could help. If he wasn’t gay, and wasn’t straight, did he just not like anyone? Or maybe he was bi? 

“I- uh- well I’m _broken_ , you see..” 

Angel nearly stopped the car in the middle of the road before looking up to the rearview mirror to see Alastor staring out the window, a conflicted look on his face.  
  


“What? Broken? What do ya mean?”

“...He always said feeling attracted to women was something a man was supposed to feel, but I never felt that. He said It was required to be a man, to like women, but... I didn’t.. _feel_ that..”

Angel was starting to understand now. 

Was he talking about his dad? He had to be. If he was, Angel could relate to that a little. His dad had also forced him to want to be with girls, but he didn’t like girls, he liked guys. His dad didn’t like that at all.

“He? Who, your dad?”

Alastor nodded, looking out the window again. His smile was sharp, much broader then what it was usually like. 

“I get that, my dad forced me ta be wit’ girls too. Here’s the thing though, Al, you don’t gotta like women to be a man, your dad was wrong, ight? Who your attracted to don’t add up to how manly you are, you can like whoever you wanna and still be a man.”

“I don’t.. I don’t feel attracted to women, though, and I don’t feel that way towards men, either, so I  _ must _ be broken-“

“That’s not bein’ broken, that’s called being asexual.”

“....as- _what?_ ”

“Asexual means you don’t have sexual attraction to other people, like you don’t have any interest in that sorta stuff, like sex and relationships.”

“..that’s a thing?”

“It’s always been a thing, people just didn’t have a name for it till way later. Being asexual is totally normal, it don’t mean your broken, smiles.”

“Oh..”

Angel nodded, suddenly feeling terrible for kissing Alastor so abruptly like that all those weeks ago. He had no idea, and now that he knew he would try not to make any mistake like that again.  feeling a little better for helping Alastor, he decided to let the subject drop, casting one last glance at the deer. 

Alastor looked up from staring at the buckled seatbelt he had been fiddling with, ears twitching rapidly, hearinganother car beside them, seeing it begin to pass them. Instinctively he ducked out of view, but followed the little van quickly rolling out of view with glowing slitted eyes. He looked down and let go of a breath he was unaware he’d been holding, feeling a little lighter then before. He had to admit, finally being able to put a label on his sexuality was relieving. He was glad Angel was there to help him understand it better. 

The rest of the ride was silent, other then the soft radio static filling the closed space and the quiet music playing from the car radio. 

When they got to the hunting range, the sun was high up in the sky. 

_The blue sky-_ something Alastor still hadn’t gotten used to. He waited patiently for Angel to let him out, not bolting out of the car like last time. After another quiet battle with the seatbelt- He was instructed to put the hoodie back on with the hood up, and he complied begrudgingly. Angel pulled out his bag from the trunk and slammed it shut, pulling out the car keys and locking it. 

“Alright smiles, you ready?”

“Absolutely.” 

“Then let’s go.”

The walked along a different path this time, and Angel was extra weary. Even though he knew he should be cautious, part of him felt that wasn’t really necessary, what with Alastor’s ears flickering around wildly, listening for any and every little noise. 

They were quiet, looking around for a good place to wait when Alastor held his arm out, stopping the human. “Wait.”

“What?” Angel whispered quietly, raising an eyebrow. He felt his chest tighten with anxiety when the red stag looked the other way, ears twitching. After a dramatic moment of silence, Angel standing deathly still, Alastor smiled childishly at him. 

“This reminds me. Did you hear about the silence last week?”

Angel scoffed, brows furrowing. “No.”

“Neither did I!” Alastor laughed, wiping a fake tear and giggling, slightly curling in on himself at his own dumb joke. 

Angel snorted, pushing the deer away playfully. He wanted to look displeased at the immaturity, but that lovely smile was contagious, and he felt himself also begin to laugh. 

“That wasn’t even funny.” He tried to say convincingly, falling victim to another fit of the deers staticky laughter. 

“Okay okay but seriously, we came here to hunt, not goof around. Lets keep going.”

Alastor scoffed. 

“Gee Angel, when did you get so...”

Alastor hummed, looking the human up and down in a joking manner when his face fell, eyes widening slightly. Angel stiffened at this. 

“What?” He asked nervously. “What’s wrong?”

Why did Alastor look so mortified? Did he do something? 

Alastor felt his face heat up a bit and he quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact. 

“Ah- I suppose it’s nothing..”

Angel still felt a bit uneasy. Clearly it wasn’t ‘nothing’, but he decided to let the subject drop and get on with the day. 

“Okay weirdo.” He gave alastor’s shoulder another playful nudge and kept walking along the dirt paved path. 

Alastor tensed up at the contact, face heating up more. He smiled, obviously flustered, ears bent back at an odd angle. He was glad Angel wasn’t facing him right now- he’d definitely question why his face was as red as his hair. Even if the human did happen to question him, he couldn’t answer truthfully. In fact, not even he knew answer. He was planing on jokingly insulting Angel, (arguably his favorite thing to do) but when he looked the human up and down in an fake judgmental manner...

  
“Hey, prancer- you comin’?” Angel shouted over his shoulder, rasing an eyebrow at the deers skittish behavior.

Alastor looked up, taking a deep breath as his face cooled down. 

“Oh! Yes- my apologies..”

After a few minutes of walking and only mildly interesting conversation-  Alastor paused, smile growing taut. Angel rolled his eyes, thinking this was another trick to get him to listen to a bad joke. 

“What is it this t-“

“Do you have your gun?” Alastor interrupted.   
After a second or two, he grew impatient, grabbing the bag from the humans back and pulling the gun out. Angel hissed. 

“Oi! _Careful_!”

Alastor didn’t pay his concern any mind as he flicked the safety latch off.

Angel hummed displeased, brows furrowing. He frowned deeply at his companion. 

“I said _careful_ you dumb brat- now what is it?”

Alastor pointed straight ahead of them, gesturing to the small grassy area covered by the large array of tall spruce trees. 

“There is a fairly large buck right over there, can you see?”

“Uh..”

Alastor motioned again, giving angel a look as if to say ‘ _there, ya dunce!_ ’  
  


Angel scoffed as the not-demon quickly knelt down, crawling behind a nearby bush. Angel squinted and copied what Alastor was doing, assuming he knew what to do. 

“Yeah- I don’t see squat, smiles..”

Alastor huffed and shifted the gun in his hands, aiming and lifting it high enough to match his target. 

Angel squinted again, leaning forward into the bush. Did Al have super good eyesight too? Was that monocle just for show? He leant forward a bit more and made the bush rustle softy. 

“Shush, will you?”

“I’m tryna- _whoa!-_ “

Angel fell forward into the bush, collapsing face first into the hard ground with a thud making Alastor jump. He pulled the trigger, firing off into the trees surrounding them and scaring away the ( _obviously_ _invisible_ ) buck.

_Angel!_ ” Alastor yelled, voice cracking embarrassingly as he glared incredulously at him, sharp and clearly agitated. 

Angel slowly lifted himself up and groaned, picking the leaves and twigs out of his hair as he stood, dusting himself off. 

“Sorry, geez.. I can’t bend down like that, I don’t know how you do it.” He pointed to how Alastor was kneeling, and rolled his eyes. “It was one deer, _relax_.”

Alastor’s ears fell back a bit and he flipped the guns safety back on. He knew Angel didn’t like people yelling at him for making simple mistakes, especially after his boss, and the last thing he wanted to do was make Angel upset for a stupid reason. 

“My aplo- I’m sorry, your right.” He stood up and handed Angel back the rifle. He took it and slung it back over his shoulder, lifting his chin away from Alastor and crossing his arms dramatically. 

“Alright. Apology accepted.” 

Alastor chuckled, smiling genuinely as he felt the same heat from before rise to his cheeks. He raised a hand to fix his hair, anything to busy his shaking hands as he turned away. 

“Uh- We should keep going this way, where the deer ran off, because that maymean there are more nearby.” Alastor said, motioning to the direction the buck fled. The human smiled and nodded. 

“Okay, let’s-“

Angel was Interrupted by a pack of dogs, barking loudly, the sound of heavy paws running across the woodland ground, cracking twigs and leaves all strewn across the path. 

He didn’t miss the way Alastor tensed up, his pupils shrinking. 

“ _Get em! Get em!_ ” They heard a rough voice shout a ways away from the two. 

“Uh, you okay smiles?” Angel asked, reaching to poke the deers side. Alastor quickly grabbed his wrist before he got close enough and grabbed both his arms right after, looking straight at him, his eyes frantic and ears pressed down. 

“I-we.... I want to leave-“ there was a horrible shakiness in his voice that made angels blood run cold. Alastor looked downright _petrified_. All the color he had previously seen the deer try to conceal just a few seconds ago now drained from his face. 

“Uh- we just got here, what’s the ma-“ He was cut off by the dogs barking once again, the sound much louder. _Closer_. 

  
Angel knew, logically thinking- that those dogs were most likely after the buck he had scared off, _but Alastor was a deer too-_ what if they got the scent mixed up and went after them? He took in a deep breath, anxiety trampling all logical sense in him as he dumbly asked-

“Are you scared of the dogs?” He mentally kicked himself. _Of course he was scared!_ Alastor was practically pissing himself! He’d never seen the not-so-demon so... so _horrified_. He was _begging_ to go home- the best thing Angel could do right now was convince him everything would be alright.

“Al, I’m sure they won’t do anythin- shit!”

Before he could finish his sentence Alastor used his shadows to bolt off in the opposite direction of where the dogs were and angel immediately ran after him. The dogs were getting closer, barking louder, more viciously.

Now his anxiety was blowing through the roof. What if Al got caught? What if someone saw him? Scratch that, what if he couldn’t catch him in time to protect him from those poorly trained hunting dogs?

They were right behind him, and to his absolute horror they kept going. He was right, the mangy mutts had gotten the scent confused. they were going after Alastor.

_ Oh no _

_ Oh no oh no oh no _

Damnit! He should’ve kept Alastor grounded- should have held onto him firmer! He ran faster, following the three large dogs running after the deer demon. He huffed, sucking in as much air as he could. his lungs were burning, but he didn’t stop running, didn’t stop pushing as hard as he could to catch up.   
then he heard it, _radio static.._

he didn’t know if that was good or bad, but it made him keep running. The thought that Alastor was near made him keep running. 

“ _Get em! Come on! Get- What the hell..!_ ”

_ Oh no _

The static was loud now, so loud, angel could hardly hear the barking. 

Okay- now he knew what that specific static meant. Something bad was happening, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep straining himself like this. 

The static stopped abruptly just as angel saw the scene coming into view.  
The scene- A tall monstrous form of his not-so-demon buddy he’d never seen before stood looming over a large man and his three cowering dogs. The man had his gun drawn and when the he grumbled fiercely, the dogs were barking- snarling viciously at the _thing_ , at _Alastor._

Sure, he’d wished he had seen this side of Alastor before, it would have made his shock die much faster, and while he was absolutely horrified at what he saw, he knew this was just in self defense. The deer was scared, cornered, and Angel was too. He knew he’d never truly understand Alastor, but he wanted to, he really did. This demon was scary, monstrous, and could absolutely kill all of them in a heartbeat- but he knew Alastor wouldn’t. It was still him in there- in that form, and Angel would make sure his not-so-demon buddy knew he was there for him no matter what.

“Al? Al, come on! Come here, okay?” He shouted hoarsely, trying to get the red deers attention. 

“What the fuck is that? A _demon_!?”  The man shouted, shaking furiously, his gun aimed at the Alastor. Even now, Angel could see Alastor wince at the bluntness of that statement.

“No! Leave him alone!” Angel yelled, running in front of the man, his breath heavy as he heaved and struggled to speak. 

“Back up kid! Back up!!” He pushed Angel away, holding his arms out to keep the boy behind him and he fell to the floor in a fit of coughs. 

“N-o! _S-stop!_ ”

The man growled an order and the dogs lunged, pulling Alastor down. The wendigo like creature’s static blared loudly and his radio dial eyes spun rapidly, antlers branched our wildly and ears pressed far back against his head. 

Angels eyes filled with tears as he struggled to stand, to speak, but his legs were jelly, refusing to work. The man shouted something Angel couldnt hear and shot, pulling the trigger and angel watched helplessly as instantly Alastor’s formed changed, back to his normal one, antlers shrinking. 

Blood was soaking his clothes on his side quickly, and he clutched it tightly, static fizzling and popping like a record scratch. 

“ ** _No! Alastor!_** ” Angel screamed, tears falling down his face. The dogs had latched onto his leg and locked on, digging their sharp teeth into his flesh. Alastor screamed, voice filtering in and out as he struggled against the canines. Two were on his right leg and another was on his left arm, growling and snarling, gripping tighter whenever he would fight against their teeth. 

“What are you, you... _thing_.” The man spat, voice shaking. Alastor growled and struggled, fighting desperately against their hold when the man lifted his shotgun to his forehead. He froze. Angel choked, sobbing as he struggled off of the ground. 

“ _You **demon**_.”

_ ‘Click!’ _

There was a loud sickening crack that echoed throughout the thick forest, as Angel shot the man straight through the chest, making him collapse onto the ground in a bloody heap. He shook violently, breathing fast and manic. The dogs had run off at the sound, letting Alastor go. He immediately curled up one his side and groaned, body shaking just as much as angels. He ran over to the red stag and fell to his knees, running over his various injuries. 

“I-oh my god- Alastor, oh, oh god...”

he couldn’t believe Alastor was still managing to keep a smile right now. He had to be in a _tremendous_ amount of pain. Alastor cracked an eye open and smirked at the emotional human.

”I d-don’t he’s going.. to h-help up here.”  
  
Angel choked on a sob and he shook his head.

”no.. Al just _please_.. _please_ shut the fuck up.” 

Alastor made a clicking sound with his tongue and closed his eyes. Mumbling something Angel couldn’t understand. Something in another language. He sobbed once more, reaching over to grab Alastor hands and press them against the gunshot wound.   
“W-what was that?” He asked shakily.  having tossed the gun to the ground, Angel quickly pulled Alastor into his lap after making sure he would keep his hands on the wound he shrugged off his bag and took his jacket off, covering Alastor with it.   


“A-Angel.. ju-st wait.. I-It’ll-“ 

He shushed the not-demon and tried his best right then to check his wounds, but with his shaking body and trembling fingers, he didn’t think it would be possible. He grabbed his gun and tossed it back in his bag, proceeding to lift Alastor up and run.   
“don’t.. d-damnit Alastor you’re always doing stupid shit! I-I told you not to run off before.. before we...” his sentence fell off as his throat closed up as another fit of tears made their way down his face.

_ why couldn’t they just have one normal day out?  _

It hurt. Oh, wow.. 

He opened his eyes, unaware they were even closed and looked up. Angel was carrying him, running, tears falling down his face. Distantly, he heard the human talk. 

_ “-o sorry, Al, I’ve got you now-“ _

_ “it’ll be okay-“ _

_ “-go home-“ _

_ “You’ll be fine!-....-I’m sorry..” _

God it hurt. He wasn’t sure what hurt more though, the bullet in his abdomen, the bite wounds, or the guilty expression on Angel’s face. 

Why couldn’t things just go right for once? Maybe Alastor really just wasn’t meant to be outside and happy, and that’s why every time they went out bad things happened.

It’s not like he mattered, he couldn’t die again, he would’ve been okay afterwards- worst case scenario he would just end up back in hell.(Which would actually be best for both of them now that he thought about it.) what really mattered was Angel. He was a mushy, squishy, human who could get hurt easily, mentally _and_ physically, it wasn’t fair to keep getting him into these dangerous situations. 

He was simply a bad luck charm. 

They needed to send him back. 

With that last thought his mind went blank and so did his vision, darkness filling in the face of the frantic human and the blurring foliage all around them. 

“ _We’ll be okay.. we’re fine_.” He mumbled to the human before passing out, his eyes sliding shut. He distantly heard Angel sob and pull him tighter to his chest. “-with me Al! Smiles-“

  
  


°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

He ran as fast as he could, following the tracks they had left to the car. He gently sat Alastor down in the front seat, pushing the seat back as far as it could go and carefully buckling him up. He didn’t bother zipping up his bag when he threw it in the back seat, or even buckling himself up, he just sped home, tears falling down his face making it hard to see the road ahead. He would wipe his eyes only for another wave of ugly sobs to fill the eerie silence in the car. Not even radio static or white noise. _Nothing_. Complete silence other then his own cries. Could demons die? He didn’t know. He hoped not. He didn’t bother with speed limits. It was getting later, so hardly any cars filled the roads. He huffed and sniffled loudly, looking beside him to check on the injured deer.

Nothing. Alastor was still slumped against the door. Not a single movement. Angel sobbed, trying to pay attention to getting them home. 

The drive seemed so much longer then usual, but when they got there, Angel rushed out and swung the door open, unbuckling the deers seatbelt - _something he knew he should just start doing for him_ \- and lifting Alastor out, shutting the door loudly with his foot. He ran inside his apartment, not even trying to hide the deer. Nothing mattered but the not-so-demonic demon in his arms right now, and he was glad he knew Cherri would be there to help him. He would certainly need it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you see any typos- this was a really long chapter so I may have missed some

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for typos


End file.
